Imperial Crusade
by Hero Jones
Summary: Warhammer 40k. General Commissar Tiberius Braxton's career in the God Emperor's service.
1. Searching

**Imperial Crusade**

**Chapter 1: Searching**

TIBERIUS Braxton opened the hatch to his Lucius pattern Stormblade and climbed halfway out to survey his motorized force. His dark brown hair whipped in the desert wind as he pulled down his goggles to cover his eyes from the sandstorm. He noted with satisfaction that his company had covered over a hundred miles in this terrain. Although they still had not encounter any of the greenskins said to have taken refuge in this Emperor-forsaken desert. So much was at stake for the Imperial forces in the Karizak system that not one Ork was allowed to live.

'General-Commissar sir,' came a shout from below him. 'Yes, what is it Trooper Clax,' answered Tiberius, knowing what the trooper was going to ask, cause he was thinking the same thing. 'Where are those damn Orks said to be plaguing this planet.' 'I'm not sure but we will set up camp here for tonight,' replied Tiberius.

Tiberius tapped his vox-mic and ordered the men to break for camp. Return calls came in from every vehicle and infantry squad. He leapt down off his mighty tank to help with the setup.

General Tiberius Braxton was one of only a few generals who led from the front, and also one of few who held the rank of Commissar at the same time. He knew everyman in his company by both first and last name. His mentor, Warmaster Tuchus, had taught him that the men he leads are not cattle, but living thinking people who want to be recognized. Treat them like they were your own sons was something Tuchus also said. So that was how he was going treat them.

The sandstorm had subsided and night was falling fast. Tiberius had ordered the sentries to dig foxholes around the perimeter. He wasn't going to risk an ambush on his battleforce. Those Orks may be stupid at times but sometimes they could surprise you in a way that made you think twice about their stupidity.

Tiberius was walking the perimeter and every so often he would stop to chat with the soldiers about battles long past. There was one foxhole that when he reached it, he smiled as he saw Trooper Rike and Trooper Savage help one another with their ration packs. They both looked up and stood to attention as Tiberius neared them. All he could do was wave a hand and they both sat back down continuing to struggle with their rations. They are truly my boys; I will not let them down, he thought as he continued to walk on. "Don't think of them as machines given to us to command Tiberius. Think of them as sons and brothers in arms. Everyone has a part to play." Tuchus' words rang with truth. To forsake one was to forsake the God-Emperor.

He finished patrolling the perimeter and was on his way back to the tent he had set up as his own. He didn't let anyone help him while he was putting it up to show the men that he was one of them. He opened the flaps that acted as an entry and went inside. Inside he saw his cot, his desk, the data-slates that were on the desk and his personal belongings, still in his backpack on the floor. He walked to his desk and picked up a slate. It had the latest reports on the cleansings of the Hive cities to the north. It seemed that the Orks were all wiped out and that the repopulation of the Hives would take place in the next six months or so. All that was left of the Ork menace was somewhere out here in the desert.

He dropped the data-slate back onto his desk and sat down on his cot. He picked up his backpack and started to go through it. He found his treasured autopistol taken from the dead hands of a long ago adversary. Next was the Ork skull he had taken on Kimer IV. That campaign seemed so long ago when really it was only just a year ago. He at last found what he was looking for. He pulled it out and stared at the five people in the picture. The first person on the right was his good friend, Colonel Morpx. Long dead on Sestus III, Morpx had been like a brother to him. They had gone to the academy together, and graduated together. Then they had later severed in the same regiment. The Yessarians was the name of that regiment, now disbanded due to loss of men. The next person in the picture was his wife. She still looked as beautiful then as she did now. Her blonde hair ran down just pass her shoulders and her smile was priceless. They had met at the academy also but she was there for nursing while he was becoming an officer. Tiberius smiled when he saw himself as the third person. The person to his right was his biological brother Waton. Waton was just a year younger than him and was off serving in some other sector called Tazor was it? Even though Waton was younger, he was taller than Tiberius by a few inches. Their frames were about the same, and they had the same dark brown hair. The last person in the picture was Waton's best friend Slath. That man was a piece of work was all Tiberius could really say about the bastard. Slath was not the easiest person, or Commissar to get along with. Tiberius had personally executed him when he had fallen from duty.

He lay back onto his cot and closed his eyes. He could hear the bell of the academy ringing telling him it was time for class to start. He could hear the officer at the front teaching them tactics to use and how to execute them. He could hear Waton talking with some girl so he could get a date. It was coming back to him now………………


	2. The Academy

Chapter 2: The Academy

'WHO ARE YOU,' yelled Captain Gergus as the group of three rows with ten men in each shuffled along in jogging formation down the paved road outside of the Officer's Academy. It was 03.00 Imperial time, and the early air was crisp and damp.

'We are the Guard,' they answered together. All of the men were stripped down to their undershirts with their camouflage pants and combat boots. The men of the group were in their low to mid twenties in Imperial standard years. Captain Gergus was the only one to be in his thirties.

'Whom do you serve?'

'We serve the God-Emperor,' they choused back.

'Whom do you hunt and kill in His eyes'?'

'We hunt and kill the heretic, the mutant, the xeno, and all others the God-Emperor commands of us.'

'When do you surrender to these things?'

'We will never surrender to them, we kill them or die trying.'

'How do you kill these things?'

'We use the lasgun to fight, the faith to lead, and trust to bind us into a fighting unit.'

'Why do you fight?

'To protect the Emperor's domain.'

'Once more, who are you!'

'We are the Imperial Guard!'

'I can't hear you.'

'We are the Imperial Guard!'

'Hit the showers boys,' commanded Gergus, 'and make sure you all get to your classes on time, or we will have to do this again in the near future.' At this, he stopped and let the group do a perfect about face. The academy would make perfect officers of them yet.

The men ran back up the path to the academy to get to their rooms where they could shower and clean up for classes that started at 05.00. As they continued to run the three-mile path up to the academy, the men broke in conversations.

'So Waton, how about that blonde you were talking to that made you late for class,' asked his friend Slath.

'Oh, she was ok, and yes we are going to do something this weekend,' answered Waton who was panting.

'Don't tell us your tired already Waton. You haven't even done anything with her yet.' jeered some of the men.

'Feth off,' he answered while making an obscene gesture.

'Ohhhh, touchy subject eh? Anyway, how is your stupid brother fairing in his classes,' asked Slath.

'What is it to you. Just because he has bested you several times in wrestling, fencing, and sparring, you want to know if he is failing any classes.'

'That's not it at all Waton, I'm just trying to have friendly conversation with a good friend about his sibling.' Clearly, Slath didn't think Waton heard him call Tiberius "stupid". He knew exactly what Slath thought of Tiberius, but that didn't stop him from being Slath's friend. In his own way, Slath was a nice guy. They had met the first day of tactics class. From there, they got to know one another and became good friends.

It was a month after classes had started that they had got to wrestle, fence, and spar properly against one another. Tiberius had pinned Slath in ten seconds. It really wasn't much of a match. In fencing class, Slath had switched places with a guy named Ardm so he could go up against Tiberius for round two. Again Slath had lost. Round three came in sparring class where Slath almost had Tiberius down, but Tiberius came back to win. Slath was always trying to find fault in Tiberius, no matter how little or futile it was.

It was 04.10 when they entered the halls, and got to their rooms to clean up. Waton entered the room he shared with Tiberius. When he entered the room, he saw Tiberius was already up and dressed, sitting at the desk, looking over his tactics book. Waton had gotten used to his brother's early risings.

'Don't you ever put down those books Tiberius?'

'Don't you ever get to class on time Waton?'

'To shay.'

'Hurry, get showered and dressed, you have thirty minutes.'

'Alright, alright,' and with that, Waton went off to the bathroom to get cleaned.

Tiberius continued to read his book.

THE CLASSROOM was filled with a hundred and one men. It was quite, except for the man at the head of the room who was talking about different tactics, and how to execute them. The walls of the room were decorated with pictures of great men. Men like the famous Sly Marbo, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, Commissar Yarrick, and many others.

'Cadet Slath, what are the standard tactics against Orks,' questioned General Grevus.

'Lead them into a close space so that their numbers work against them,' Slath answered.

'Good, now who can tell me what do you do against Chaos.'

Ardm raised his hand. 'Yes, Cadet Ardm.'

'You must always expect the unexpected when up against the forces of Chaos. It all depends on the situation you are in.'

'Good answer Ardm. Now, what about the Great Devourer, the Tyranids? Let us say that a decent size Tyranid army is landing and is a week's time away. What are you to do? Oh and don't forget the planet has great wealth for the Imperium, not to mention a huge population.'

This time Slath raised his hand. 'Evacuate the planet and call down an Exterminatus.'

There were many outbursts at this comment at which Slath turned his head toward them and just smiled. 'Why not? The planet is lost my friends. Why waste valuable men and resources fighting a battle you possibly cannot win?'

'Because we can always win,' said a voice in the class. Everybody in the class turned to face the person who made the comment. He was at the front of the class in the right corner of the row of seats. His uniform was perfect in everyway and his hat neatly folded in between his belt and pants to his left side. 'We can always win,' he repeated, standing up to look at Slath on the other end of the room. 'How can you say you don't want to waste valuable men and resources when on the planet there are both. True there will be losses and setbacks, but it would be wrong to just let the foul xenos invade plunder and rip apart the world. The whole fleet does not land on the planet, just their soldiers, and even if you wipe them out, more are made. But if you can stem the tide of vermin, and a distress call is sent out soon enough, the Imperium will send out a fleet to deal with them. That is what I would attempt. What is faith if you will not use it.' At this the man sat down and remained quiet.

General Grevus clapped his hands together and smiled at the cadet who had spoken up against the one of the Inquisition's most dangerous weapons. The Exterminatus is a weapon that can kill everything on the planet surface. All things living are killed, all water and things of that sort are dried up and turn to dust. The planet becomes a wasteland, never to live again.

The bell rang and the men got up to leave. 'Oh, and don't forget, your research papers on the Sabbat Worlds crusades are due tomorrow.' There were groans and jeers, and something about the paper going into the General's backside.

Morpx went up to his best friend and said, 'Wow, that was some speech bud. Next time there is a debate, you are going to be my partner.'

Tiberius smiled.

'TWIST, PULL, AND THROW,' commanded General Dithz. Half the class went flying through the air and landed on their backs. After they all stood back up, they did the same to their partners.

To most of the cadets, the drills were tiresome and boring though to admit so to the General would only bring more, so most kept quiet. But, there were those who voiced their displeasure with the drills. Those men were prime targets for when wrestling finally did commence. The mat was soft and expanded the entire gym. Once in a while the General would break into one of his "we didn't have this kind of thing when I was going through, and you boys should consider yourselves lucky as our floor was hard concrete."

The bell rang and class dismissed quickly, as fencing class was next. As they entered the gym from the hall, General Claud was already speaking.

'Competition time gentlemen, it will be a tournament of skill and strength. I will pair you up and that is whom you are going to go up against. You all know the rules and don't forget you are all training to be gentlemen and officers. So, if you lose, lose with grace. Five points wins you the match.'

'Skih against Hast, Waton against Oberh, Jesor against Cirh, Fhor against Basd, Quis against Yolst, Igmus against Vcorl, Xazir against Pasyi, Slath against Morpx, Nwerin against Gathor, Karth against Davus, Holther against Aldus, Ardm against Tiberius, Wuhz against Tillus, Suole against Cado, Lowe against Ralgal, and last but least of course, Maller against Eberl. As all you can count there are sixteen matches, and thanks to this gym, there are sixteen circles within. With your opponents, in the order I gave, go to your respective circles, starting at the far end of the room.'

While walking to the twelfth circle, Tiberius was shoved from behind. It was Morpx, 'Good luck with your match, and see you in the finals Tiberius.'

'You too Morpx,' Tiberius simply replied. He liked Morpx a lot, but right now he was concentrated on his match. You had to concentrate and not let anything distract you, if you wanted to accomplish something.

He turned from Morpx with a wave and continued walking only to be shoved from behind to the mat. He thought it was Morpx come back to say something more, but that forceful shove was too hard to be Morpx's. He turned around while on the floor and looked up to see Slath standing above him.

'So, you think your big and bad huh? Too good huh? Well, let me tell you something, I have my eyes set on you and will bring you down and show everyone just how pathetic you are,' Slath's words were cold and hard.

'I've never thought those things,' Tiberius said as he picked himself up. 'How can you accuse me of those things when I've never done them.'

'Oh yea, I bet you haven't, you worthless piece of feth. Your good friend is first on my road to you,' and with that, Slath turned around to walk to his circle on the floor. 'Oh, and be ready to visit him in the infirmary,' he said with a snarl.

'You wouldn't dare,' Tiberius answered, clenching his fists at the remark.

'Wanna bet,' was the answer.

'Get to your place so you can lose Slath,' Tiberius said calmly, regaining all peace of mind.

'Oh I won't lose, I don't lose when the person I am fighting is weak,' Slath was laughing at his last comment as he went to his circle where Morpx already had his sword out and was doing exercises.

The whistle started the tournament and all men were hacking, slashing, parrying, back stepping, sidestepping, lunging, and yelling. Eberl fought bravely, but Maller's speed with a sword was greater as was the man's strength. Lowe didn't fair any better to Ralgal. Cado and Suole were equally matched, but in the end Cado won the fight. Wuhz beat Tillus hands down. Holther was so busy looking as his sword fighting technique, that Aldus just basically stuck him five times. Davus and Karth were ferocious swordsmen, and were tied at four until they both struck the other at the same time. This tie was decided by the most unimaginable way, paper, rock, and scissors, to which Davus won. Nwerin came back against Gathor to win. Pasyi beat Xazir. Igmus bested Vcorl. Yolst beat Quis. Fhor beat Basd. Cirh and Jesor both fought hard, but towards the end, Jesor swung downward too hard and smashed Cirh's wrist, forcefully ending Cirh's continuation. Waton beat Oberh. Tiberius won against Ardm with no problem. Hast left Skih in the dust with his own techniques. The match of Morpx versus Slath was hard fought but won unfairly. Slath had attacked head on and Morpx was blocking every blow at the start. As the match wore on, Morpx was starting to slow down, because of he was constantly blocky each and every strike. Slath saw this and at the first mistake Morpx made, he took advantage, an evil advantage. Slath brought down his sword onto Morpx's head with all his strength. There was a loud crack and Morpx toppled over. Only Slath would ever know what really happened that day. He claimed Morpx tried to duck a swing, but Slath had reversed and struck him on the head accidentally. It seemed logical, but Tiberius knew better, especially when Slath winked at him. Though he couldn't go to the General on that information, as there was no proof.

The tournament was stopped after this incident and was to continue in the future sometime. Classes were ended for the day as well, indoor classes anyway. They men of Class Fourteen still had combet practice. Cirh and Morpx were both in the infirmary talking when Tiberius, Waton, Eberl, Gathor, and Jesor walked in.

'How is the head Morpx,' asked Tiberius.

'Could be better. Doc says I have a minor concussion.'

'A minor concussion, after that kind of hit,' chimed in Gathor.

'Yea, it feels like a major one.'

'Do you remember anything,' Waton asked.

'Not really, only that I was fighting Slath.'

'By the way, where is he? You would have thought that since it was an accident that he would at least have come to see you,' said Gathor.

'Ah, I didn't want to see the son of a bitch anyway,' replied Morpx.

Eberl and Jesor were both over at Cirh's bed talking to him about his injury and Jesor was continually apologizing for it, only for Cirh to say it was okay, repeatedly. They learned that Cirh's wrist was broken and would need to heal.

The two nurse orderlies came in and one went to each Morpx and Cirh. The one who came over to Morpx had blonde hair just like Morpx and in Tiberius' opinion was one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen.

'Tiberius, Waton, and Gathor, meet my sister Liz,' said Morpx matter of factly. All three men took off their caps and bowed.

'At least you haven't forgotten my name brother,' she said, and then she turned her head towards the men. 'You must be the some of Morpx's classmates.'

'Yes ma'am,' answered Tiberius too eagerly.

'Oh, you don't have to bother with that, just call me Liz.'

'That would be nice,' replied Tiberius.

'Just checking up on the little squirt here, so I'll be out of your way guys in a minute,' she said.

'Take your time ma'am, er I mean Liz,' said Tiberius, trying to cover up his mistake.

She laughed then smiled at Tiberius and his feeble attempt to cover up his mistake. God her laugh was beautiful, as was her smile. She had finished up and left the room, as did the other orderly. Tiberius watched her leave, and boy did her backside look nice with those legs under them.

'You can stop drooling now,' Gathor yelled out. The other men confirmed it.

'Just ask her out for a date Tiberius,' Waton practically sang it out.

'Fine, I will,' he said proudly.

The whole room fell silent, as Tiberius Braxton walked into the room the two orderlies had just entered, and asked out the girl he was to marry just one year later on that very day.

'FORM UP,' YELLED Colonel Halz. 'Since there are two of Class Fourteen out, Class Two will have to sit out two men.'

'Oh, that won't be necessary sir,' Tiberius said back to him. 'We can take them at their full strength.'

'Well, okay, if your that confident. But then again it might be good practice for you and the men around you to be down already as almost all battles are unfair in numbers. When you get to your respective sides of the battlefield form into fighting squads, as you like. Orders are to annihilate the enemy. The charges of the lasguns are all set on low. This will stun you, so try not to get hit. Oh, and don't forget your vox-mic signals. Those are very important in the field. Now mount up!'

The battlefield was several miles from the Academy to the northeast. Stealth, swiftness, and good leadership are all needed to succeed in battle, and the forest was the perfect training area in the region for those. Seven diesel khaki trucks made their way out to where they would drop off the men. Class Two wore their forest camo-uniforms with their green helmets. Class Fourteen wore their black camo-uniforms with their dark helmets. Each side chose their camouflage without the other knowing. They could have chosen the same outfits, but Tiberius suggested something different from what was to be expected. When the trucks dropped out their loads on both sides of the field, they drove out off sight.

'Alright men, there are only thirty of us, so I say we split into five-man fireteams. That way we can move freely, swiftly, and act more independent,' announced Tiberius. Everybody in the group agreed, except for Slath and Holther.

'We say that ten man squads would be better in the fact that they can cover a bigger area, and be more carefully,' Holther was saying. 'Not only that but we can defend certain points better than with five men,' Slath chimed in.

Cado, Ralgal, and Maller all shook their heads. The rest of the men were silent. Tiberius thought of the logic in it. It was a good idea, but since they had communications, they could coordinate better in smaller teams. He told this to the group and they all agreed, even Slath agreed at it. At that, they split into fireteams. They opted not to have an overall commanding officer, but the Sergeants of the squads were Tiberius, Waton, Slath, Holther, and Maller. Ralgal, Cado, Basd, and Fhor were with Tiberius. Aldus, Eberl, Jesor, and Gathor were with Waton. Slath's squad consisted of Yolst, Igmus, Davus, and Oberh. Holther had Pasyi, Quis, Wuhz, and Vcorl. Maller's mob had Skih, Tillus, Suole, and Nwerin.

Tiberius and Maller's men were to wait in reserve, until the whereabouts of the enemy were known. At that, Waton and his group set off to the left flank with their lasguns on low and a prayer on their lips. 'Let us go and win this thing men,' shouted Slath as they headed up the middle. Holther hand signaled the advance up the right flank. There were cheers from the reserves as the squads ran into the forest. They took in the forest with aw. It was a pit of darkness from the outside, like looking inside a cave. Maller tapped his vox-mic, 'Two, this is Five, report.'

'No sign or contact with the enemy, as we are only half a mile in. Wait.' There was silence. The wind started to blow from the west. 'Contact, Contact! We are engaged. Requesting support.''Eberl is down, Eberl is down,' was all Maller heard before the vox-mic turned off. That wasn't Waton though.

'Tiberius, we are going to support Waton's men,' yelled Maller. 'Come on men,' he sang as they charged off into the woods. Tiberius, left alone with his squad closed his eyes and through his minds-eye, saw what was unfolding on their left. He saw Waton issuing orders as per the tactia logic. He saw Eberl on the ground, being dragged back by Gathor. He sensed that Aldus was down as well. Maller's men were just arriving and started to open up with their lasguns. The red flash and beam from the weapons seared across the foliage. Men of Class Two were also dropping. Waton was a fine leader and so was Maller, and between them, they 'killed' eight of the 'enemy'. Tiberius Braxton opened his eyes and wondered where in the name of feth had that come from. He didn't have time to ponder this as his vox-mic crackled to life. Holther was yelling frantically for support, and that his squad was gone, and then the vox went dead. Tiberius was in motion, waving his squad to the right of the forest. He was ready and his men were ready. They set off at a sprint, jumping logs, and puddles as they ran. Then, Tiberius just stopped.

'What did you stop for Tiberius,' asked Cado, looking quite confused.

'Fan out, and find good cover,' was all Tiberius said.

'Why, you looked like you were in a hurry to support the right here.'

'I was until I thought of something.'

'And what would that be,' voiced Tillus, shouldering his lasgun so he could put his hands on his hips.

'Doesn't it seem odd that only the flanks have been hit?'

'Well, no. Oh! I see.'

'They are only hitting us from the flanks, and probably with sixteen on each to bust through each flank and roll up on them. It would work had Holter not reported to me. We will ambush them, while they probably think we are in the center.'

'Right then. You heard the man, lets go.'

They fanned out into different section of the area within fifty or so feet of where they stopped. Crossfires were set up and they could each see at least one person. Tiberius was at the front where he could judge the situation. It didn't take long for them to hear twigs and leaves cracking. Tiberius peered over the log he was lying prone under. He counted at least ten. It seemed Holther gave a good account for himself. Tiberius hand motioned the wait for my signal. This went around the group. Wait for it, wait for it. Some were past his position now. Fire! The surrounding area lit up with red flashes as they pounded the 'enemy'. They fell like flies. Two jerked back and fell. Six others fell where they stood. Only two found available cover. Ralgal pulled out a concussion grenade and threw it into the cover of one of the hiding men. It went off with a boom! The man staggered out and was dropped by Basd. The last survivor ran back the way they had come. Fhor stood up, sighted, and pulled the trigger. The runner flew forward and landed hard.

'Well done Fhor,' shouted Cado. Fhor smiled and ran forward to meet up with Tiberius and Ralgal.

'I think we should double back the way we came and swig around to where Waton and Maller were,' Fhor heard Basd say as he neared them. 'That way, Slath and those guys won't mistake us for the enemy.'

'That is a good plan,' replied Tiberius, sweating from the heat of the day. And with that, they ran off.

Slath was talking with Oberh, smoking lho sticks. Yolst was disappointed at Slath for lacking in his duties, even if this was just a war game. Igmus was idly sitting under a tree, cleaning his lasgun. Davus was standing look out in a kneeling position from behind a bush. Yolst got up from where he was and went over to where Slath and Oberh were. They saw him coming, but paid him no attention. Yolst heard Slath something about him being to goody, goody.

'So, even though we have been here for half an hour, we haven't seen the enemy, and Waton has called for help, we are just going to sit tight.'

'Yep,' said Slath, flicking some ashes to the ground, 'Enjoy the outing mate.'

'How can you say that when clearly they need support?'

'Easily Yolst.'

'You are hopeless Slath, and you too Oberh.'

'At least we are having a good time,' sniggered Oberh.

'Feth you Oberh. Grow some balls, and fight!' Yolst was getting fed up with their attitudes. 'Igmus, Davus, lets go. Why should we listen to this coward, even if it is a war game.' At this, Yolst turned and started to head toward Waton's position.

Davus started to get up but Slath shot him a look that could kill.

'Don't you dare undermine my authority you piece of shit.'

'I already did.'

Slath pulled up his lasgun and set the charge to full power. 'You think I'm joking now.' Yolst stopped in his tracks when he heard the power cell charge up. 'You wouldn't dare do that.' 'You wanna bet Yolst,' came Slath's reply.

'Put that thing away before you hurt someone Slath, yourself mostly,' Igmus said. He was walking toward the confutation.

'Don't get smart with me Igmus, I might just kill you for the hell of it.' Slath trained his gun on Igmus as he said this.

Igmus stopped and put his hands up. 'Okay, we will stay here, jez. Calm down would you.'

'Tell that to your buddy over there,' Slath pointed at Yolst with his gun.

Yolst snorted and went to a nearby tree and sat down, with his head in his hands. Igmus went over to him and also sat down. When the war game was over, Slath, Oberh, Davus, Igmus, and Yolst were still where they were when the General went out to inspect the battle. Slath told the Colonel that Tiberius had ordered them to sit tight. No one disagreed for fear of their life from Slath. Even Yolst was quiet when Slath lied. The look in Slath's eyes said all that was needed for him to be quiet.

Tiberius, Ralgal, Cado, Basd, and Fhor silently crept up on where they heard the crack of lasgun fire. Ralgal scouted ahead and signaled for them to drop and crawl. They were twenty feet from the firefight when they heard the boom of a concussion grenade. They froze, waited for ten seconds and then continued on. Ten feet between them and the fight. Ralgal signaled a stop. Two fingers pointed to the right, three pointed straight, and two pointed left. Tiberius motioned for fan out. They did so with perfect movements. Tiberius pulled out one of the squads two smoke grenades, pulled the pin and threw it into the middle of the fight. It exploded with a crack and smoke filled the air. There was cursing and someone shouted a sound off. The group was already running through the smoke, painted bayonets out and ready. When the smoke had cleared, all of the 'enemy' were stuck. Waton jumped up when he saw Ralgal dispatch the last of the 'enemy'.

'Well done guys,' he exclaimed as he approached Ralgal. Ralgal turned and fired a shot, passed Waton's head. The figure jumped backwards like someone had just hit him with a sledgehammer. 'Better be more careful Waton,' was all Ralgal said.

The total score was Class Two had eleven kills where Class Fourteen had all thirty-two kills. The Colonel Halz congratulated Class Fourteen with their victory and was pleased with Tiberius' quick thinking and tactics.

'There are good things in store for men of your kind of mind Tiberius,' Colonel Halz said to Tiberius on the ride to the Academy. 'Many a good thing.'

'Thank you sir, the comment is appreciated.'

There were three more tough years of training, exercises, and courses before they graduated. During those years, Slath was sent to the Commissariat, for his ruthless attitude and guile. No one was sad to see him go. On graduation day, General Grevus said he was proud of them all, and named off the regiments different classes were going to. Class Fourteen was to go to the planet of Yessaria in the Rhomlus star system. Hazzas rang out from the graduation fields. The men were to be given their first full commands and Lieutenant's rank given to them all. The General saluted one last time before the men were to be dispatched to their ships for shipment to their new planets.

Whatever awaited them, Class Fourteen was ready to face whatever end awaited.


	3. Through the Void

**Chapter 3: Through the Void**

ALL AROUND THE transport, the darkness of space was seeping about. It was a vast dark hole with only little stars with which to see by. If it weren't for the technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, transition from one part of space to another would take years upon years, and life in the Guard wasn't based of years, it was months. The Guard were always being transported to new war zones. That was life in the Emperor's mighty Imperial Guard. The transport _The Emperor's Carrier_ was a gargantuan vessel that had served in His divine service for centuries. It had seen so many war zones, planets, and solar systems that the Captain of the ship had switched three times in its lifespan.

Captain Hugo Juven was looking out of the viewing bay of the bridge. He loved the void of space. It was so mysterious and dark. Just like the Navigator, a being not of the regular human standards, but a thing with the gift of warp-sight. It is able to guild ships through the warp. Without these Navigators, just like without the Adeptus Mechanicus, space travel would take too long.

Being the Captain of a ship was hard work but when you had a hundred and fifty years under your belt it was a piece of cake. Juven was a tall man with white hair, displaying his age. He was beloved by his crew and demanded respect at all times, and they gave it to him. To many, it would seem Captain Juven was happy with his position of being a Captain of a transport, but in reality, he wanted to captain a Battlecruiser. To fight the Emperor's enemies was something he had dreamt of as a child. To see the flashes of coherent light and massed balls of plasma rip through space and tear the enemy to pieces. To be triumphant in battle, and be sung about long after he had passed on, to the Emperor's side. But instead, here he was being used as a shepard to herd these Guard dogs to their point of rendezvous on the planet of Yessaria.

'Sir.' Captain Juven spun around on his heel breaking out of his trance. The officer in front of him was his second in command, Lieutenant Fids Loher.

'Sir,' Loher repeated.

'Yes, what is it Lieutenant,' answered Juven finally.

'Sir there is a contact off the starboard side, and it isn't reading an Imperial Navy signature.'

'Have you identified it Lieutenant?'

'Um, no sir. I wanted to tell you so you could make a command decision.'

'Well, for starters, please identify the thing.'

'Yes sir,' Loher turned to group of men down below on the machines, 'Ensign, relay all information concerning the approaching vessel to the computer for analysis.'

'Yes sir.'

'Sir! The contact seems to be powering up her weapons. Shields are also online,' came a panicked shout from below.

'Everyone calm down, power up our own shields and brace for impacts,' Captain Juven said smoothly.

'Shields are up and to a hundred percent sir.'

'Blast shutters are closing sir,' the viewing bay shutters were also closing, and Captain Hugo Juven glimpsed at the void one last time.

'Power up the lances,' Juven announced. Inwardly, he smiled. Now was his time to shine, his lone vessel taking on another lone vessel. Though the enemy was clearly built to fight while his own was built to transport, he relished the chance to prove himself worthy.

The ship's only two lance ports powered up while the enemy ship commenced shooting. The lance shots all went wide; the distance was still too great.

'Sir, we have got a fix on the enemy's ship. It is called the _Executioner's Blade_. It is Chaos sir,' panic had finally overtaken the Ensign's voice.

'Turn to starboard and for the last time, calm down,' yelled Juven. How the hell had a Chaos ship gotten this far into Imperial space? He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that. All he knew for sure was that he had to get his cargo to their destination.

'Aye sir.'

'Let us rid the universe of this filth.'

DOWN TWO DECKS, Tiberius and his classmates waited patiently, but were starting to get antsy. They had been in this damn thing for over three months now. They were all anxious to see this new world where command was beckoning. There was only so much a man could do before he got tired of the waiting. Just yesterday, Holther and Pasyi had gotten into a brawl, when Pasyi "accidentally" got jelly on Holther's uniform. It was a minor incident but to Tiberius it was the beginning of madness. He saw the tiredness and fatigue that comes with waiting on the faces of everyone. Even the joker Lowe was down. They needed to get off the ship and just have time to regroup.

The ship rocked violently, throwing several men to the ground, and spilling the drinks on the tables. There was a scream at the other end of the mess hall. Tiberius didn't have time to find out who it was as another hit sent them all tumbling to the deck.

'What the feth is going on,' vocalized Aldus to no one in particular.

Tiberius answered, 'I believe we either have run into an asteroid field or we are under attack.'

'I hope it is the former,' Maller mumbled.

'Well, a lot we can do just sitting here,' chimed in Yolst.

The screaming was becoming too much of an annoyance. Tiberius and Maller both sprinted to the other side of the room. They were disgusted by what they saw. Nwerin was on the floor, squirming, retching, and screaming out things the others had never heard before. Nwerin was one of the quiet men of the group and mostly kept to himself. He was also one of the smallest men. His black hair was short and clean cut. It seemed that when the ship took the first hit, his hot caffeine had spilt all over his face and neck. The man was pleading with those around him to help though they didn't know how too. Tiberius grabbed him by the right arm and pulled Nwerin's screaming body up onto his own shoulder.

'Hold tight Nwerin.'

'God! I'm going to die,' he screamed as his face bubbled and tears ran down his face.

'No your not.' Just as the sentence was out of Tiberius' mouth, the intercom came to life.

'Armsmen, report to port side on deck two immediately.'

'Feth! Feth it all,' Tiberius yelled at the top of his lungs.

'FIRE,' SHOUTED Captain Juven. All had gone terribly wrong in just a few seconds. It seems there were actually two Chaos warships, one coming in behind the first's wake. It was hiding in the other's warp signature. As they closed, the second was identified and was called _Death Incarnate_. They were of the Idolator class ship.

The weapon batteries of _The Emperor's Carrier_ opened fire in a hail of lasers at the _Executioner's Blade_. They had struck home, and the shields of the Idolator collapsed with a bright flash. _Death Incarnate_ had gotten close while its sister took the blunt of the hitting. It opened up with its weapon batteries and lance batteries. These ripped into the transport, blowing out the shields easily, and tearing great chucks out of the ship's prow. Men died in the hundreds, while fires burned, oxygen ran out, or they were sucked out into space. _The Emperor's Carrier_ wasn't finished though. It fired another hail of laser fire at the already struck _Executioner's Blade_, completely tearing a gapping hole through the side of it, as it tried to swing about to bring up its bigger guns. This in turn hit the plasma reactor, causing an overload. The _Execution's Blade_ was torn to pieces from inside its own soul, as the plasma leaked out like lava. The explosion blinded sensors and eyes for a minute. In this minute the Chaos ship, _Death Incarnate_, got round behind the Imperial transport. It poured on a torrential amount of fire into the backside of the already stricken Imperial vessel. The engine room suffered several critical hits, making the ship come to a complete dead stop. Frantic tech priests tried to put out the fires or to repair that what was damaged, but to no avail.

From the monitors on the bridge, Captain Juven saw something out of the rear view that he had never wanted to see. A wave of Chaos Dreadclaw attack craft came out of the Chaos ship, like a wave of locus back on his home planet. He saw this and then looked at his second in command. 'Prepare for boarding action.' Juven sighed deeply at the thought of the fight to come. He then grabbed the power sword at his side and unsheathed it along with his compact laspistol.

'Yes sir,' replied Loher doing the same, as the turret defense lasers started to fire into the oncoming horde of death.

MEN IN CARAPACE armor and with autoguns and hellguns in hands, hurried past Tiberius and the limp Nwerin. Maller and Waton were just behind them, just in case they were needed. Their carapace armor was a dark blue, and helmet visors hid their faces from the group of four. One man stopped and said, 'The infirmary is just down the hall to the left buddy.'

'Thanks,' replied Tiberius, as he and the others with him shuffled down the hallway.

CADO WENT TO the nearest armsman and asked how he and the others could help. The man replied that they should go to the armory on deck three and pull out weapons for their own men to use.

'Come on men, to deck three,' Cado was shouting as they ran off to get weapons of any kind.

A loud thud sounded against the outside of the think hull, which caused Cado and the others to stop. Sparks started to seep in through the wall, making a huge circle.

'Oh shit,' exclaimed Cado as he took off in the direction of the stairs.

Morpx, Ardm, Jesor, and Quis all picked up what weapons were available to them, while the others went after Cado.

'We hold this until the others come back with some goodies okay,' Morpx said, trying not to talk with the nervousness he felt.

The hull exploded inward and sent shards of metal everywhere. Quis' thigh was struck and he collapsed to the ground screaming. The other three were missed and steeled themselves. The mass of corrupted flesh was immense, like the rush of oncoming water through a hole. At least thirty chaos cultists poured out of the improvised entry. Morpx took the pipe he had and swung down onto the head of the first one he met. There was a crack and blood spurted all over. The cultist tipped over, only to be replaced by another who fired his lasgun, hitting Morpx squarely through the left shoulder. Morpx fell to the ground, grabbing the hole and dropping the lead pipe. He then staggered up and with his boot, flicked up the fallen pipe, and in one fluid motion, rammed it through his attacker's neck. After which he collapsed to the deck, blood pouring out of him. Ardm threw one of the knives he carried and it found its mark in the neck of a cultist with a bolter. He grabbed two more, each in a hand, with one up and the other down. He was in the thick of it, spinning, hacking, slashing, and killing. He slit a throat here and opened a gut there. Only was he stopped when a chainsword severed his right arm off at the elbow. At this, he dropped to the floor and started to go into shock, convulsing. Jesor had picked up a shotgun he had found on the grill of the floor and racked a slug into the chamber and fired. The shot sent three cultists spinning. Another corrupted human charged into him and rammed him into the wall, causing all the air out of Jesor and the shotgun fell to the ground. The cultist let him fall to the floor and smiled a grim smile that Jesor would never forget to his dieing day. As the bolt pistol was put to Jesor's temple, he closed his eyes and felt something shower over him. It was warm and wet. He opened his eyes and saw the cultist pitch over, headless and convulse. Then there was a red flash of light as more fire came down from the hallway. More cultists were hit and fell where they were stood. There was a shout as Cado and the others came running to aide their comrades. A mass melee was taking place inside the hallway. Fhor spun the chainsword he had commandeered and killed with every stroke. Lowe was fighting with a lasgun with a bayonet attached to the lug. The others fought with a mixture of weapons. Lasguns, autoguns, shotguns, knives, bayonets, chainswords, laspistols, autopistols, bolt pistols, and just about every other thing that could kill. Skih skewed a cultist on his sword and pushed him off, only to realized that the man hadn't died. Skih's chest exploded as the solid slug of the cultist's weapon hit him. Basd screamed as he finished what Skih had started with his laspistol. He and Skih had been best of friends on their homeworld of Tokklon, and had remained so in the Academy. Basd saw Skih's chest and dropped to his side and held him, as blood came out of Skih's mouth.

'Will you remember me forever Basd,' Skih gasped out.

'What are you talking about, you are going to live.' Basd couldn't hide his tears and he started to retch, choking back the sobs he wanted to release. 'Who is going to be there for me,' he wailed as the fight continued around them.

'I will always be with you Basd, and don't ever forget that,' Skih coughed up more blood that spurted onto Basd's face. Basd ignored it, and continued to hold his friend close, until Skih died, after which Basd cried out.

'PUSH THEM OUT, Emperor damn you,' yelled Commissar Kelgo to the armsmen around him. His bolt pistol spat into the face of an oncoming cultist. Deck two was a mess, and he could see this. Order could only be kept for so long. 'Do not falter. Those that do will suffer the Emperor's wrath, which was given to me.' His pistol barked again and again. The hellguns that the armsmen had were making short work of the heretics, but they kept coming. No matter how many you kill, there are always more. Another thud was heard down the line, as another Dreadclaw attached itself to the hull. Kelgo rattled off several shots when he saw four men and an unconscious man stumble in amidst the line of armsmen. 'Halt,' he shouted to the men as they drew closer. 'Where do you think you men are going?'

'We need to get to the infirmary. My friend here is hurt,' said the apparent leader of the group.

'Well, as you can see, there is a fight going on at the moment and the route to the infirmary is choked off by these bastards.' Lasbolts seared from the armsmen skirmish line, as if to add emphasis.

'We can remedy that,' said the leader. He gestured for his men to pick any fallen hellgun, as he set down the unconscious man, very gently. 'I will not let you die Nwerin,' was all he said. He then too picked up a hellgun, and joined the line of armsmen. They poured mass amounts of fire into the wave of cultists who charged from down the hall. They died in droves, like cattle being sent to the slaughter. And still, more came on.

TIBERIUS CHANGED power cell clips for the sixth time in less than five minutes. The spent cartages of over twenty men littered the floor, like the dead of the enemy. It seemed as though the cultists only wanted to get into close combat.

'Blood for the Blood God,' shouted several of the cultists at one time. 'For Khorne and the Betrayer.' They were clad in red robes that fluttered and wiped about them, like there was something wet on the ends of their robes. Their faces were distorted and upon their forehead's, was a symbol that Tiberius had never seen before, but made him dizzy to look upon.

At the sound and look of this, Tiberius noticed that blood was running down the face of the nearest armsman's face. He wasn't hit though, and then the man flipped up his visor to wipe his bleeding nose with his sleeve. Others were doing the same, and he tasted blood in his mouth. The iron tangy taste was strong and he spat out, seeing that he too was bleeding from the nose.

'Pour it into them boys,' shouted the Commissar that had stopped them. Finally, the wave of humanity finally overcame the be leagued Imperial defenders. There was shouting as knives were thrust into flesh and bone. Blood poured out freely from everywhere.

Tiberius used his hellgun as a club and beat the enemy whenever he appeared. He slipped and fell to the ground as a sword passed over his head. He kicked out and heard a satisfying crack. His attacker fell and screamed a curse that Tiberius couldn't understand. He quickly grabbed up the cultist's sword and jabbed it down into the man's face. Then, he brought it up behind his head and parried another sword. How had he seen that coming? Who cares he thought as he spun and threw up the attacker's sword and thrust his own into the belly of man. He rolled just as another sword came down on where he was just a second before. Sparks flew and blood splashed up. The roll brought him up into a fighter's stance. The brute was huge, with what looked like a Space Marine's armor suit that was hastily painted red. The trophy rack on the back of the monster was decorated with human skulls. It charged and snarled at Tiberius, bringing up the sword it wielded to decapitate him. Tiberius sidestepped, and was matched in this maneuver. This took him by surprise, which seemed to make the thing smile. It brought down the sword, but was blocked at the last second by Tiberius' quick reflections. As the two blades met in midair, the slaver leaned into Tiberius' face and said,' Join me, and I will make you a god.'

Tiberius spat into the heretic's face. This seemed to excite the man, as he broke off the deadlock and attacked with renewed vigor. Tiberius did his best to deflect and dodge the dangerous blows. Several grazed his body, which made little cuts that started to bleed with mass amounts of blood. He knew he couldn't win this if he was on the defense the entire time. Then, he noticed a pattern in the swings the heretic made. Downward stroke, diagonal strike from the bottom left to top right, sidestroke meant to take off Tiberius' head, then the diagonal top left to bottom right, and then it would be repeated.

'Gotcha,' Tiberius whispered as the sidestroke came in and at which he dropped to his knees. This hurt immensely, yet he grit his teeth as he stabbed with all his might into the belly of the thing, driving the blade deep into the organs, that dwelled within the armor. Dark blood poured out over the sword imbedded into its body. 'I go to the dark gods,' were the last words out of its mouth. At this, it fell backwards into the pools of blood that splashed up from the ground. Tiberius had slain his first Chaos Space Marine. The rest of the cultists were either dead or were being finished off. Tiberius tried to stand, and did so slowly, as his muscles protested this sudden strain on them. He glanced over at where he had laid Nwerin down, only to see that the body was gone. Panic overtook Tiberius, but was released as his eyes saw Waton had taken Nwerin upon his own shoulders and started towards the infirmary. Tiberius' eyes found Maller up against the bulkhead, panting hard and with a gash across his forehead and a deep cut in his midriff. A corpsman was already at Maller's side and administrating basic aid to the injured man. Medics were already running down from the infirmary to see to their saviors. There were moans and cries from the injured while the medics came into the hall where the worst fighting had just taken place. Tiberius brushed off one of the medics and said, 'There are others worse off than me, see to them first.' The medic nodded and went off to help another medic with an armsmen who had lost a leg and arm in the swirling combat. Someone saw to Nwerin and relieved Waton.

Commissar Kelgo walked up to Tiberius and said, 'Well-done son. Now I have a new task that I want you to head. It seems the enemy have taken flight to the bridge. I or really, Captain Juven wants support on the bridge. And as there are still traitors down here, I will administer to them, so that leaves you and some of my men to go with you. The Emperor protects.'

'As with you Commissar,' Tiberius answered. 'You three over there, and you men over there, gather your weapons. We make for the bridge. Waton, you take command of these seven here, and I will take the other six.'

'Sure.'

'Right then, let's go.'

THE BRIDGE WAS a mess. Corpses lay everywhere. Servitors lay where they were cut to pieces. Captain Juven, Lieutenant Foher, and eight other crewmen were pinned down behind a control panel on the far side of the bridge with at least twenty cultists between them and the exit. Small arms fire rattled against the machine as every now and then one of the men would let off a shot or two before they were forced back into cover.

'Sir,' shouted a man from down the line, 'we need to get some help before we get overrun.'

'I know that Phand,' Juven said with acidity. He had voxed for support at least three dozen times. Yet there wasn't any answer from anybody. Maybe they were all dead? But how could that have happened? There were at least a couple hundred men aboard this ship, and those thirty or so Imperial Guard officers. Not that they were being useful or anything. Then again, he hadn't received any type of report. His vox officer yelled out something about support was on its way. It was about bloody time.

TIBERIUS AND WATON with the thirteen armsmen moved slowly upon the stairs to the bridge. They had encountered several cultist patrols, and had silenced them. Their hellguns were up and searching for targets, with new power clips inserted, to ensure they didn't run dry in a long fight. They reached the doors, but before they entered, Tiberius said, 'Show no mercy for you shall not be shown any. Remember this.' They all nodded an acknowledgement.

'For the Emperor!' They all yelled this as they kicked in the doors as one. The first several men inside fired at the stunned cultists, who were about to return fire on this threat but were stopped abruptly when the men who were till recently pinned, stood and added their own firepower to the fight, creating a murderous crossfire. The other men from the outside also poured on the fire. As the smoke cleared, the men of the bridge and those of the rescue party greeted one another with cheers and hugs of happiness, having cleared and stabilized the threat.

Tiberius strode up to the Captain of _The Emperor's Carrier_ and saluted a crisp and sharp gesture. 'Sir.'

'As you were Lieutenant,' he answered, as the ranking of the man was apparent.

'I would like to suggest a course of action sir.'

'And that would be…'

'I would like to board the enemy craft sir.'

'You want to repeat that Lieutenant?'

'I want to lead a raiding party into the heart of the attacking vessel sir; using those craft they came in. Maybe we can knock her out and get some vital information at the same time.' Tiberius knew it was a crazy idea, but if it worked, they could greatly improve their knowledge of how the Chaos ships got to where they were.

'Do you know how to fly one of those things?'

'No, but a friend of mine is a computer tech, and I'm sure he can figure out how to operate one of them.

'Fine. I can only spare some fifty armsmen. Don't let me down.'

'I won't sir, cause if I do, I'll be dead.' Tiberius saluted and walked off to round up his raiding party.

He is one brave son of a bitch that man, thought Captain Juven as the Lieutenant went out of sight.

'CAN'T YOU GET this thing to budge Tillus?' Tillus had been working on the Dreadclaw for only two minutes, and Tiberius was getting frustrated. If the enemy figured out that the first wave had failed, another would be soon to follow.

'Got it. Tell the Captain to close that bulkhead as soon as we lift off.'

Tiberius tapped hid vox-mic and got a hold of the bridge. 'We are good to go. Be sure to close the bulkhead after we have detached.'

'Well done, and may the Emperor protect you.'

'Five, four, three,' Tillus was counting down to launch. Tiberius looked around the compartment. Fifty armsmen were in full battledress. Their dark blue carapace armor glinted in the artificial lighting. Their visors were down and hellguns primed. Every fifth man had a pump action shotgun or shotcannon. Safeties were on, and everyone had their guns pointed down. He saw the other members of the raiding party. Oberh, with a shotcannon, Cirh with a shotgun, Pasyi with a hellgun, Davus with a hellgun, and himself along with Tillus also had hellguns. They too were adorned with the armsmen battledress. 'Now brothers is our time to bring swift vengeance to the enemies of the Emperor. We must be vigilant and strong,' preached Tiberius.

'Two, one, go!' The craft lurched and broke free from the hull of _The Emperor's Carrier_. They sped away through the darkness to the _Death Incarnate_.

'Okay, first objective is to get to their engine room and either disable their warp drive or kill the crew. That would keep them back for a while. After that we need to get to a main data terminal. Once we get to it, we need to extract information that may be of use to us. Those are our objectives. If anything comes up, improvise.' Tiberius rattled off these things with the intent to keep their minds off the coming fight. The men nodded their understanding.

'Two minutes till impact gentlemen,' sang out Tillus.

'May the Emperor protect thy humble servant of God,' whispered Davus to himself.

'Oh my God, my Emperor, give me the strength to do your will and slay the enemy of Mankind,' mumbled an armsman.

'I will die to serve,' stammered another.

There was a loud noise, like that of an artillery shell going off just feet away. The docking clamps had clung to the Chaos ship's hull. The automatic burner started to melt away the thick hull of the beast they were to enter. A few seconds later, it had finished and the plating fell forward into the gloom.

The raiding party entered the belly of the beast, wearily. Two armsmen went ahead and scouted out a cross-junction section just ahead. They signaled back that there wasn't any movement. They edged on slowly, and cautiously. Tiberius hand motioned for Davus to take ten men and head down the right hallway. Then he motioned for Oberh to take another ten men and go to the left. He, Tillus, Pasyi, and Cirh would take the remaining thirty armsmen straight up the walkway. They made sure that shotguns and shotcannons were equally split up. They all stalked off to their destinations.

The group in the center came up to another cross-junction only just fifty yards into the ship. Pasyi took the right and Cirh took the left. Tiberius and Tillus with their men moved up the center again.

DAVUS WAS SPOOKED by the stillness in the air. Also, the foul reek of Chaos didn't help the situation any either. Group Two, as they were called, came upon a door, that was locked tight. He tapped his vox-mic, 'One, this is Two. Do you read me?'

'Yes, I do, go ahead Two,' answered Tiberius.

'We have just come upon a locked door, and need to know how to proceed.'

'Kick her in if it won't budge.'

'Roger that, over and out.'

With that confirmation, Davus signaled two men to either side of the door. He then walked up to it and kicked it in with his heavy combat boots. The door broke easily, and the two armsmen rolled in and brought their hellguns up to the shoulders, scanning for targets. There weren't any to be seen, because the lights were offline. Davus found the switch, but didn't turn it on until all of the men were inside, and fanned out. The lights came on weakly. The men almost all threw up at what they saw. There were several surgical tables in the room, and on each one was a man, or what used to be a man. It seemed the stench had waited for the lights to come on, because once they were all on, the smell of blood and decay assaulted their nostrils. Yet there was stirring on the far side of the room. Davus and an armsmen both walked up the room to the man on the center table lay. He was not yet dead, but they saw that he wanted death. Cuts were all over his body. It seemed that some doctor had played merry hell on the body. He spoke, 'Help me.'

'You two there, get this man off the table and take him back to the transport,' shouted Davus. At this, two men came up and helped get the wounded man up and started to carry him towards the door. There was a cry from the doorway as an armsman's head toppled off his shoulders. The corpse hit the floor, as more fire came through the door. Men scattered to get into cover, yet there wasn't much to offer. The armsmen returned fire as much as they dared to. Davus, from where he was couldn't get a good view of the passageway. Only the lasbolts came in through the door. They were pinned in a bad position.

OBERH'S MOB HAD run into contacts much earlier then Davus had, and there was a massive firefight in the halls. The scorch marks were more than proof as to the battle raging on. After what seemed an hour, but were really only minutes, the firing stopped.

'Recon by fire men,' said Oberh. Having lost only three of his squad, group Three pushed on into the heart of the ship, passing the remains of over a dozen slain enemy. Unbeknownst to them, they were on the track to the plasma reactor room.

PAYSI AND THE men under him crept along the corridor, and came upon a patrol of cultists. Hellgun fire made quick work of the five-man team. They rushed up into the area where the dead were, and were amazed to see that they were carrying tools, and not weapons. They continued on until they came to an elevator. 'I guess we go down, as that is where the engine room likely is,' Pasyi said smoothly. He pressed a rune, and the shaft opened up and they entered. The doors closed and they descended. When they came to a stop, and the doors opened, they were met by a huge dome. They entered cautiously, with weapons ready. On the far side of the room sat servitors and on the catwalks above stood cultists, with lasguns. The ground below opened up into a pit. In the pit there were human work gangs, pulling the weapon batteries back into place for another salvo. The sentries on either side of the entrance were stunned to see the Imperials come in, but were silenced with quick bursts of shotguns. The cultists on the catwalks heard the gunfire and started to shoot down onto the intruders. Group Four returned fire with their hellguns. Several cultists tipped over the handrails and fell screaming to the floor. Others ducked down and continued to fire. The Imperials started to fan out per Pasyi's orders. One was knocked down by a lasbolt, and didn't get back up. The servitors paid the battle no attention and continued their work. The work crews looked up and started to cheer at this sudden turn of events. The slavers started to whip those who broke ranks. But the sight of the Imperial men was too much for the slavers to handle, and the work gangs launched themselves at their so-called "masters". The thirty or so slaves clubbed and beat the slavers to death, while their saviors continued to whittle down the cultists defending the control consoles. In a matter of minutes, the gunnery room was in Imperial control. The slaves found the keys and released themselves from bondage. Then they started to cheer to the God-Emperor. Others picked up the dead cultist's lasguns. In turn, they shot each of the corrupted servitors through the head. Three other armsmen had died in the hard fight, along with some ten slaves. Pasyi went about placing tube charges at all the control consoles, not letting their deaths been in vain. He set the times for five minutes, plenty of time to get back to the Dreadclaw.

CIRH AND GROUP Five came to a stairway that led up. They moved up it in pairs of two. At the top there was a set of doors, made out of pure iron. 'Must be the bridge,' suggested of the armsmen.

Cirh nodded and hand signaled for them to set tube charges. When they were in place, at the bottom, middle, and top, an armsman shouted, 'Fire in the hole!' The door exploded inwards with a loud _thud_. Autorounds came out from the room, cutting down two men. The rest hit the floor, and from their positions poured on their own fire.

Great thought Cirh. Now what am I gonna do? He didn't have to wait long for the answer to come. There was a loud roar from inside the room, as the first of the cultists came running out. The thing was, these were no mere cultists. These were the bodyguards of the Captain of the vessel. They were huge, at least a head taller than the tallest Imperial there. A rebreather covered their mouths, and Cirh gasped as he saw what the rebreather apparatus was attached to. A satchel of a dark red liquid was attached to a tube, which ran from they supposed air tanks to their mouths. They charged with the ferocity of madmen, with axes, swords, and knives. The Imperials just had time to let fly a volley of fire that knocked several down, but most got back up, and fix bayonets. Shotguns and shotguns spat out their lethal short-range ammo. This killed five of the attackers outright. There were still at least two-dozen of the berserkers charging them, and the men of group Five fought with the bravery of legends. Cirh was the last of his men to die. He took a great many berserkers with him, seven to be exact. His men had accounted for another twelve. After Cirh was slain, the berserkers whooped and hollered with excitement. Then they mutilated the bodies of the dead Imperials, taking heads as trophies, and putting them onto the racks above their heads.

TIBETIUS, TILLUS, AND their own men came to a wide-open room, with control panels all over the walls. Surprisingly, there weren't any guards. Tillus set about his work trying to get all the information out of the computer into the data-slate he had. Tiberius and two armsmen stood at the other end of the room, guarding the door, while the rest of the men took up defensive positions everywhere they could. 'Done,' shouted Tillus.

'Excellent, pull back to the extraction point, on the double,' commanded Tiberius. At this, they double-timed their advance down the corridors they had come down.

OBERH HELD UP a fist and lowered himself to the grill. His squad did the same. They all heard the turning of combines and clinking of chains from up ahead. They heard the shouts of men and groans. They slowly crawled their way to the doorway. Instead of the engine room they were expecting, they looked upon a massive plasma reactor. The plasma inside was sloshing around like an alcoholic drink trying to escape. Oberh held up four fingers and motioned them through the door. Four men got up and crept up through the doorway. Quick like shadows, they moved in after the four. They used the control panels to block themselves from the eyes of the enemy. 'Three to everyone, we have located the plasma reactor. You all have around ten minutes to get back to the Dreadclaw. Make it snappy, cause I don't know for how long we can sit here without being found. Over and out.' He motioned for an armsman to give him all the tube charges. He set the charges for ten minutes and went around the machines and guards to the back of the plasma reactor. He shot one of the guards through the face, but since there was so much noise already, the shotcannon wasn't heard. He used some tape and strapped on the charges. At this, he dashed back to the waiting squad and motioned for the fall back. 'See you in hell,' he whispered as he left as quietly as he came.

DAVUS CURSED OUT loud as a lasbolt tore a chunk out of his left calf. There were only five armsmen and the wounded man alive. Davus fell to the ground and crawled back behind an overturned table. 'Emperor damn you all to hell,' he shouted out to the attackers. At this, their fire tripled. 'Maybe you shouldn't taunt them sir,' cried out an armsman.

He had gotten a call from Oberh saying that had ten minutes to get to the Dreadclaw, but by the way things were going, they would be lucky to last half of that. A grenade popped into the room, and Davus grabbed it and hurled it out again. There was a _crump_ as it went off. That was at least the tenth one he'd thrown back. Silence. Nothing. Davus crawled up to the door, and stuck out his hellgun. Nothing happened. He leaned out into the door space, and wasn't shot.

'Two, this is One, we are coming out.'

Davus saw Tiberius come from down the hallway, followed by his squad. There was a mixture of greetings, and a mutual agreement that they should take their leave. The ship lurched to the right as an explosion went off, followed by another series of explosions. Squads One and Two ran for their lives to the rendezvous point. They met up with Pasyi and Oberh at the first cross-junction they had come to. More than twenty dirty looking men were with Pasyi's group.

'Where is Cirh and his squad,' questioned Tiberius as soon as he saw they weren't there.

'I've tried to contact them, but all I get is static. I fear they may have fallen in combat Tiberius.' Pasyi tapped his vox-mic as to emphasize his point. Another good man gone thought Tiberius.

'We only have four minutes until kaboom,' said Oberh to no one in particular.

'I'm going back for Cirh,' Tiberius was getting ready to go when Tillus blocked his path. Tillus was a big man to get around. 'Get out of my way Tillus.'

'I can't do that, Cirh is dead Tiberius.'

'No he is not.'

'I'm sorry.'

'I can't leave him behind though.'

'There isn't enough time.'

'I can make it, so get out of my way Tillus.'

Tiberius was about to force Tillus out of the way when he suddenly fell to the ground. Davus was there with his hellgun's butt down. 'Sorry Tiberius, but it is for your own good. Now lets go.'

They set off with Tiberius and the wounded being carried back to the Dreadclaw. They had detached and were only several miles away when the tube charges exploded, causing, for the second time that day a plasma drive overload. The Chaos ship, _Death Incarnate_ was ripped apart in a white-hot flash. Miraculously, the Dreadclaw came out unscathed.

When they boarded _The Emperor's Carrier_, the injured were sent to the infirmary. No one ever knew what happened to Cirh during the boarding action. He was hailed as a hero aboard _The Emperor's Carrier_, along with all the other men who went on the raid. Captain Juven wrote in his personal log that he was giving recommendations to Tiberius, Cado, Tillus, Davus, Oberh, Pasyi, and Cirh of the Imperial Guard for their actions during the ambush and the counter-attack. The twenty or so slaves that were saved from _Death Incarnate_ repaid their debts by joining the Navy. The priests aboard _The Emperor's Carrier_ performed a special ceremony for the dead warriors.

Though the struggle in space was over, peace can only last so long. The road to Yessaria would remain uneventful, and without the proper equipment, the data-slate with the Chaos information would have to wait to be decoded. More battles were to come and they all knew it, but just who would death come and take next. That was the question yet to be answered.


	4. Rebellion

**Chapter 4: Rebellion**

THE HYDRAULIC HISSING of the boarding plank yawned open to reveal the cargo with. The powerful turbine engine of the troopship was winding down as the first of the occupants exited from the belly. Tiberius and Morpx walked down the plank, leading the remaining men, which with them, numbered twenty-nine graduated lieutenants. A band started playing up "Blessed is the Emperor." The regiment's flag fluttered in the cool breeze. Thousands of men lined the spaceport, all facing towards the troopship that had just disgorged the off-worlders. At the bottom of the plank, stood five men also in military dress uniform. The tallest was General Karv. His gray uniform was elaborate, yet lacked medals. The General's aid, Dorl, a man in his early thirties, had the marks of a colonel. The vox-man's name was Hellos, and the communications equipment looked like it belonged on the burly man's back. The Commissar's eyes were wild and ice cold at the same time; Litus, looked like the exact definition of his office. His great coat was smoothed out and he beamed of pride. The last man that Tiberius laid his eyes on was the governor of Yessaria. He could smell the arrogance that came from him. The man was a short fat man who had lived to well on the wealth of his stature.

'Governor Gohjus,' said Tiberius as he bowed slightly before the man, as did Morpx. Tiberius knew all the names of the highest men in the regiment and on the planet, all due to his reviewing of the data-slates given to him.

'Welcome to Yessaria my boy.' Gohjus practically sang this out. 'And you are?'

'My name is Lieutenant Tiberius sir. This man here is Lieutenant Morpx.'

'Welcome to Yessaria,' the governor repeated.

'It is an honor sir,' replied Morpx, bowing again.

'Well, now that you men are finally here, we should get down to the banquet hall.'

'That won't be necessary Governor Gohjus.' General Karv stepped up to Tiberius, and studied the man. This Lieutenant seemed to be the leader of the group and would need to be treated as such. Karv knew Gohjus was stupid with military matters. He always wanted to show his office off by having a huge feast in honor of new people. It was very political, but Karv wasn't a politician, and cared little about the formalities of such things. 'We need to get right down to platoon formations.'

Tiberius smiled inwardly. Already, he was beginning to like the general. Tiberius stood up to the general and gave a perfect salute. General Karv returned the gesture.

'Okay then, if you want to,' sighed Gohjus.

The men behind Tiberius had all filed out and into a straight line. Their shoulders were back, their chests out, and eyes on the man in front of them. 'About face,' shouted Tiberius. The line moved in synchronized motion, turning to face General Karv.

A decent bunch of Imperial Guard officers, mused Karv. We yet may make a regiment worthy of Imperial songs.

'Captain Braxton, get your men to the billets in the South Distract,' ordered Karv.

This made Tiberius startle. Captain Braxton? Is that what he said?

'Captain Braxton,' repeated Karv, 'the South Distract please.'

'Form up on me!' Captain Tiberius Braxton of the Yessarians and his lieutenants all marched off to the idling trucks, behind the congregation of Yessarian infantry.

'General Karv sir. Are you sure you wanted to promote that man?' The question had come from Dorl.

'Yes I did. Did you not read the report that was given to us prior to them arriving?'

Dorl shook his head from side to side.

'You should have. It seems to me, we have a natural born leader here.'

THE ROOM WOULD have been silent and empty, had it not been for the man sitting in the middle of it. 'Oh dark gods of Chaos,' he prayed, 'give me your strength, your will, and your favor. I will give my life and soul to you.' He fell silent. Voices whirled around him for a while. They spoke to him softly, promising things that mere mortals were not to be given or entrusted with. Another figure walked into the room.

'Master Henor, I have urgent news.'

'Out with it,' spat Henor.

'It seems that some thirty new guardsmen have reached planet side.'

'And…' hissed Henor.

'Well, I thought you would want to know.'

'I don't care if they landed thirty-thousand new guardsmen.' Henor the Beheader stood slowly, flexing his massive muscles as he did so. The servant cringed at the sight of his master standing fully erect. Henor pulled out a knife from inside his ritual robes. 'Power demands sacrifice Rohk. Did you know that? Of course you didn't. You are too weak to stomach true power. With this power about to be bestowed onto me, I will carve a bloody name for myself in this universe.' He laughed as the words left his mouth, then raised his arms to the ceiling and screamed.

Rohk shivered all the way down his spine, and collapsed to the floor, convulsing and vomiting. He came to a few seconds later. He was on his belly, pinned down by something. What the heck was going on raced Rohk's mind?

'I thank you for you sacrifice to me Rohk,' came his master's voice from above him. There was a second of pain in the back of Rohk's neck. Warm fluid flowed down and around his neck to his chin. He tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Henor laughed as he slit Rohk's neck. He enjoyed the beheading of things, hence his title. Too much for his own good really. That was the twentieth servant he had done this week. The voices kept asking for more sacrifices, and he delivered each and every time. Except all the other times, nothing happened. This sacrifice was different somehow. Maybe, because he had done it on a whim, and had not been commanded to. The blood, spilling out of Rohk's corpse started to steam up. The mist rose and surrounded Henor. He reveled in it. He could taste the copper and feel the warmth of the blood haze. It started to attach to his body, in layers. Once one layer was completely hardened, the next would cover him. There were several words on his lips all the while this was happening, and it steadily rose in his throat. 'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!'

HENOR THE BEHEADER exited from his ritual room and stepped into his briefing room. There, his commanding officers were all gathered around a holographic table of the planet. They stood to attention when they noticed he had entered the room, no one wanting to speak.

'Well my followers, I hope all is in order for our take over of this mud-ball.'

'It is all as we had planned my lord,' stammered an officer.

'It better be, because if my plans fail here, none of you will be alive to suffer the consequences.'

There was a mutual sound of gulps.

'Commence operation "Backstab".' At this he laughed deeply. The cloaked figure in the corner of the room stirred. Henor looked at it, and said darkly, 'Oh, and see that our puppet plays his part.'

IT HAD BEEN seven weeks since they had landed on Yessaria, and it seemed that the Yassarians were starting to get used to the off-world officers. The regiment totaled a grand six thousand men, including tankers with General Karv at the top. Colonel Dorl was next, among two other colonels. There were ten majors in the regiment, with twenty captains. The drills that the new regiment had done during the past week were rigorous and harsh. General Karv wanted them in tiptop shape for their first campaign on the out fringes of the Rhomlus star system. The data-slate that Tiberius and the men had brought back spoke of a massive Chaos incursion on the system. It was apparent that the two Idolator class Chaos ships that had been destroyed were the vanguard of this Chaos wave. Several officers said that if two ships had gotten through, who was to say that more had not. Their assumptions were correct. Reports from the planets of Forrix, an industrial world, and Savous, an agricultural world, said that Chaos and infested their worlds and that a good number of Planetary Defense Forces on both planets had turned traitor.

Crippled of most of its military force, Forrix was easy prey for the Chaos invaders. With the spaceports all taken in the first few crucial moments of the fight, no one would escape the wrath of Khorne. The remaining PDF gave a good account of themselves, holding the Capital city of Orha Prime, the Water Railway, and the Fortress of Callous, for some time. The bitter fighting that raged, had taken its toll on the defenders. Two hundred had fallen on the stairs to the governor's palace alone. And in just two short weeks, the Chaos forces had claimed Forrix as theirs. The factories on the planet churned up once more, but not for the production of the Emperor's work. Instead, they started to pour military supplies for the Chaos troops now in control. Among the production were tanks, guns, armor, and the most important thing to the forces there, a population ripe for Chaos. They broadcasted their name across the star system, killing over fifty astropaths, who in their death throes uttered the words of the cult. Their name was The Tainted Blood Horde.

The once green and lust prairie farmland that was Savous, had been turned into a muddy trench-war by the third week of fighting. The PDF of this world were stunned by the shear ferocity of The Tainted Blood Horde. Yet, they held firm, despite the innumerable amount of men the invaders threw at them. By week seven the PDF still held the Capital city of Barbu, with a series of trenches on the outskirts, manned by a thousand or so loyal troopers, with reinforcements numbering around another thousand inside the city itself. What artillery and armor they still had were in reserve. The spaceport inside the city was still intact, but if anybody was going to get off, help needed to get in first. Daily bombardments from the artillery in the war raged grasslands took terrible numbers of citizens and soldiery to their deaths, but the defenders had already made up their minds. They were going to fight to the last.

'MEN OF YESSARIA, we have welcomed the newest members to our regiment with open arms, and they done well in these past few weeks,' General Karv's voive boomed over the microphone. 'We now make for the outer fringes of our system. It seems our brothers of the planet Savous are under siege. Our first task as a new regiment is going to be relieve them of their burden.'

The Plaza was open to the six thousand Guard soldiers standing to attention, with the civilians to their left and right, in stands hastily constructed to support the mass of people wanting to see this moment in their history. The buildings surrounding them were decorated with farewells and the regiment's banner of a Guardsman with his lasgun braced against his hip, pointing up, standing upon a pile of Chaos corpses.

'The archenemy are calling themselves The Tainted Blood Horde. We have no doubt that this is a branch off of their Blood Cult.' Karv cleared his throat as those words left his lips. 'My fellow loyal warriors of the Emperor, come with me to the very gates of hell so we may, together, rid our system of this filth, this plague that is trying to eat the soul of us. We must stand firm, and let not our faith waver. We will not go quietly into the night, but we will shed light on our foe. Let them see that they cannot stand against the Emperor or His subjects.'

The cheering of those gathered was deafening. Even the officers yelled at the top of their lungs. Standard Bearers waved the flags with perfect motions. To the citizens, it was magical. Captain Tiberius Braxton sensed something was wrong through all the rejoicing. He saw out of the corner of his eye, a figure in the third story of the Workman's Shop to his left. General Karv continued his speech as the cheering subsided. Braxton saw there was a long barrel coming out from the second window from the left of the building. He rushed forward, knocking down Major Strass on his way up to the podium. There were shouts of dismay. He slammed into the general, as there was a _crack_. The hotshot round passed where the general's head had been not two seconds ago. Panic had taken the stage and the Plaza. People shouted, as the crackle of small arms fire sounded over the panic. Braxton looked up, but the figure in the window was gone.

'Thank you captain,' gasped out Karv.

'Your welcome sir.'

'All officers, form up the men, and return fire where possible,' yelled Karv into the vox-horn just given to him. 'Get to your men captain.'

'Will do sir.' Braxton tapped his vox-mic, 'Platoon one-seven-one, form on the west side of the plaza.' Acknowledgements came in from both of his sergeants. He leapt off the stage, onto the pavement, pulling out his brand new bolt pistol keeping his power sword sheathed. To the north, he could hear the exchange of fire. A lasbolt passed in front of his face, and he could smell the ozone, and felt the heat of it. He turned, and saw two figures rushing at him with lasguns firing from the hip. Their red robes said they weren't guardsmen, and their helmets bore a mark of Khorne. Braxton dropped to one knee and braced himself, pumping one round into each of the attackers. They both were sent flying, with gapping holes in their chests. He stood, and made off to where he had sent his platoon. Another group of citizens threw off their clothes to reveal their true loyalty. More red robes. He shot twice, before ducking behind a parked vehicle. One cultist was picked up off the ground and landed hard. Lasbolts ricocheted off the hull of his cover. They were charging him, firing wildly. An explosion knocked him to the ground. He stood up, dazed, to a figure standing over him.

Lieutenant Nwerin stood over Captain Braxton, offering up a hand to help him up. 'Sorry about that grenade being too close Tiberius, but they were bearing down on you.'

'Don't worry about it Nwerin. Get to your platoon, and follow me.' He was pulled up by Nwerin, and saw that the tech-adepts had done a good job on the man's face. Though a little of the machine part of his face and neck was clearly seen through the fake skin.

'Yes sir.'

Platoons one-seven-one and one-eight-six made off for the west side of the Plaza at a sprint.

VCORL BROKE OPEN a door on the lower level of a restaurant just two blocks to the east from the Plaza with his boot. 'Salg, burn them out, now!' The flame trooper came running, lugging the heavy flamer pack on his back, and the tanks burped as the flame torched the inside of the building. There were screams from inside the building as the enemy inside started to catch fire. A man's webbing containing a good number of grenades blew a huge hole in the front of the place. Debris and body parts rained down on platoon one-eight-three. Three of Vcorl's men were ripped apart in the blast. 'Get in there, rush them,' he yelled. The men ran into what remained of the restaurant, and were met by little resistance. Vcorl, and his vox-man both shot down three cultists each. Flame seared over an area and two cultists stood, clutching at their faces. Someone shouted, 'Don't shoot, let them burn.' Both cultists collapsed to the ground, finally succumbing to their deaths. A lasbolt tore through the throat of the man next to Vcorl, spaying him with the man's blood. 'God damn,' he shouted. More cultists were coming in through the back of the place. 'Form a defense, form a defense,' Vcorl shouted. He tapped his vox-mic, 'one-eight-seven, where the feth are you Gathor? I can't hold the east side alone.'

And he wasn't alone. Unbeknownst to him, platoons seven-zero through eight-zero were alongside him, having problems of their own. Many men died, but they took a good amount of the enemy with them.

Citizens that weren't Chaos cultists fled the combat as best as they could. Hundreds died in the first few minutes of the fight. Many that got away from the Plaza only ran into more Tainted Blood Horde troopers who lay behind the main assault line. The Tainted Blood troopers had formed a circle around the perimeter of the Plaza, trying to catch the new regiment off guard. And, for the most part, they did. Guardsmen ran for weapons and cover all at once. The Plaza was cleared in the first two hours of the battle.

Gathor was having troubles of his own. His platoon, was coming up to support the eastern push, but was intercepted on his way. The street had become a meat grinder in which platoon one-eight-seven and Tainted Blood troopers mixed in with bayonets and fists. Blood of the fallen flowed freely down the curb to the drainage pipes. 'Lay into them,' shouted Gathor as the din of the battle rose. He sidestepped a Tainted Blood warrior's bayonet thrust, and fired his las-pistol into its face. When he spun, another warrior ploughed into him, taking him to the ground. Gathor kicked out hard with the tip of his boot into the groin of the cultist. When the cultist fell to the ground, squealing Gathor fired several las-rounds into the man's body. He saw two of his squad clubbing another enemy with the butts of their lasguns. He could see the fear in their eyes, because he felt the same way. This was going to take awhile he thought as he leapt onto another cultist's back with his chainsword churning.

IN A COMBINED charge, Basd, Yolst, Karth, Lowe, and Ralgal's platoons moved up to the northern edges of the Plaza. Several times they had to dig in and hold while more Chaos cultists counter-attacked. They had pushed three blocks up when they met the first armored elements of the Chaos attack. The tanks used by the Tainted Blood Horde were of the standard Armored Personal Carrier Chimeras used by the Guard. Though these certainly weren't the Chimeras usually seen by the guardsmen. These variants had Autocannon mounted main weapons, which chewed through several men before they got into cover. Their hulls and side plates were better defended then the Guard Chimera. There were a total of five of the APCs coming down the road, with infantry behind, using them as shields.

'Armor! Armor!' Basd shouted this as his platoon found cover. Yolst and his platoon came in alongside Basd's. 'What the feth can we do against this,' asked Yolst as he dropped beside Basd.

'Nothing really, as we don't have any missile tubes.'

'We need to find some, quickly,' answered Ralgal as he too had his platoon get into cover. 'Nobody was expecting this; so all we brought was the usual lasguns. Though, lucky for us, some people brought their flamers.' As if to add a helpful gesture, one of Ralgal's flamer-boys hosed an oncoming APC from the cover of the rubble. The top of the vehicle caught fire, but it still rumbled on. The turret traversed and roared into life, slicing the flame trooper to bits, and igniting his promethium tanks, catching five others in the blast.

'We need to stop them somehow,' Yolst said, looking away from the charred remains of the men.

'And how do you suggest we do that genius?' Basd was getting tired of not being able to do anything.

More Autocannon fire rained down on the pinned squads of guardsmen. Now, they were getting closer, and the cultists behind them started to open up with the weapons they had.

A man dropped next to the three lieutenants. 'We are getting pulverized out there. Do something!'

'What, what can we do against this?' Ralgal outstretched his arms to the oncoming wave of death. The trooper stayed quite. Ralgal didn't blame him for being upset; his home was being razed to the ground.

There was a _thump_ and a detonation, causing the Imperials to cover their eyes. When they looked at the road again, the lead Chimera variant was ablaze, and the Tainted Blood Horde around it started to panic. Another _thump_ was heard, followed again by the second Chimera going up in flames. Dark smoke was billowing from the two ruined vehicles, which rose towards the sky. Now the enemy were in full retreat. No one needed anything to be said. Everybody in the area stood and shot at the retreating forces.

Lieutenant Fhor smiled at the destruction he had caused. The grenade launcher was now slung over his back, and he motioned for a forward move. The men of platoon one-seven-eight followed their leader out from the right side of the street. He met up with Karth and Lowe's platoons. All three nodded to one another.

'Nice shooting tex,' Lowe said, motioning for the advancement.

'No problem Lowe. Anytime you need a vehicle to be blasted, just call on me and my beauty here,' Fhor said brandishing his grenade launcher for both officers to see. The six platoons of Yessarians moved up the streets with caution. There were still three of the enemy vehicles out here somewhere. We must push them out of the city at all costs thought Fhor as the enemy started to open fire on the advancing Imperials. How many men would it cost?

LIEUTENANT HAST SWUNG his blade down, severing an arm, and then decapitating the howling warrior of Chaos. 'Take that,' he spat. He parried another blow. He leveled his las-pistol to the attacker's head and blew it out. 'Come on, you can do better than this.' He laughed as he hacked off the head of another cultist. He saw Suole was trying to get his chainsword out of the belly of a skewed enemy, and shot the next several cultists he saw to cover the man. The hab unit they were fighting over was littered with the dead of both sides, though Hast noticed with satisfaction that most were dressed in red, and not gray. Thanks to the initial push from Tiberius and Nwerin, they had forced the Tainted Blood Horde back on their heels. Unfortunately, the push had gotten the two platoons cut off and surrounded. Good thing for them, he had been behind them, and had voxed up Suole and Maller's platoons. The road to their trapped comrades had been hard, when the surprise attack had come. Hast fired twice more, and then saw his power cell was dry. 'Shit,' he yelled as he brought his chainsword up two-handed, dropping the las-pistol. More Blood Horde warriors charged from the other side of the street, adding to the already engaged fight.

Maller was fighting for his life. He'd lost his las-pistol along with his helmet somewhere. His chainsword was starting to clog with all the flesh he'd cut into, so he was using it basically as a club. They kept coming, and coming. He clubbed left and right, killing with each blow. His platoon with their bayonets fixed, also laid into the enemy. His sergeants with their own close combat weapons were dealing death to the Tainted Blood Horde with precise swings. He stood with his platoon in the middle of the street as the rest of the enemy fled into the building in front of them. There was a noise, coming from around the corner of the building to their left. It sounded like a hydraulic squeak followed by a thud.. What the feth was it?

There was a _whooshing_ noise. Oh God Emperor, save us thought Maller as the Sentinels came into the cross section of the road. There were three of the walkers, each fitted with heavy flamers. Their light armor made them excellent scouting vehicles and even better in city-fight. They moved forward on two legs, with the crew compartment holding one man, and the weapons were fitted to the right side of the body. The men of platoon one-nine-eight ran back the way they had fought so hard to get through. Maller saw two of his boy's light up as the flamers washed over them. They screamed, running wildly, arms flailing, with their clothes combusting, and finally dropping as the flesh cooked off their bones. Maller turned to the rest of his men, who had gotten to cover inside the building they had fought hard to take. 'Charlus to me!' The vox-operator ran up to his lieutenant at a hunched run. 'Tell Tiberius and Nwerin that we can't make it to them because we don't have the weapons or manpower.'

'Roger that sir. One-nine-eight to one-seven-one come in.' White noise. 'Sir I can't reach them.'

'Try again Charlus. We have to make contact.'

The Sentinels were closing in on the pinned Imperials. Blood Horde troopers were massing behind them. They were singing a blasphemous song to the Ruinous Powers.

'Stand and fight men of Yessaria!'

Hast's platoon were already in cover as the Sentinels came into sight. Having finished the rest of the enemy in the building, and seeing the walkers, Hast ordered to defend. Suole seemed to agree with Hast on the idea to stay put, and fight from the safety of cover. They saw how Maller's mob had also fallen back into the building to their right. If they didn't any armor support or anti-tank weapons, and the enemy threw something bigger than these things, they were as good as dead.

XAZIR AND IGMUS had moved southwards in search of the armory. As their platoons had gotten to the Arbites command tower, they ran into trouble. The local arbite force lay dead, all over their compound, all hundred and fifty men. They saw that there were also dead men in red robes lying on the ground. The order to double time it was given. They ran, over bodies and over crumpled walls. As they broke through the inner gates, their worst fears were realized. Two Leman Russ Battle Tanks came rumbling out of their garages, with the marks of Chaos hastily painted on.

'Down,' shouted Xazir as the first battle cannon round whistled over their heads, and blew up dirt from the ground, where the platoons had just been. Another round was fired from the second battle tank, and it vaporized five of Igmus' men, only leaving a crater where their bodies had just been scant seconds before. 'Come on, come on,' Igmus was shouting to his men. They ran towards what was meant to be their deaths. 'For the Emperor and Yessaria!' he shouted. They were fifty yards from the tanks. Another chunk of ground was kicked up, with three more men. Forty yards. The heavy bolter sponsons of both vehicles opened up, mowing down three of Xazir's men. Another main cannon round hit the dirt. It was like the earth was raining down upon them. Twenty yards. Igmus pulled out a tube charge from his webbing, as did two other of his platoon. Ten yards. We can make it thought Igmus. His men were still charging with him, yelling frantically, firing what weapons they had at the hull of the Leman Russes.

Xazir's men were with them all the way. More men fell, as the chattering heavy bolters raked back and forth. Xazir, having a tube charge in his hand leapt onto the hull of the fist Leman Russ. He poked his las-pistol into the eyeslit of the driver's seat and fired. A puff of red mist came out. He climbed up the rest of the hull, to the hatch on top of the turret. The hatch opened, and the commander popped out, trying to man the pintle-mounted storm-bolter. Xazir raised his pistol and fired, missing the man. Another las-round blew out the man's head, to which his body dropped back into the tank. Xazir looked back to see a trooper, behind a broken piece of wall, waving. Xazir smiled and gave the thumbs-up. He then turned back to the hatch and dropped the tube charge down the hole saying, 'Fire in the hole,' and closed the hatch. There was a muffled _crump_. He re-opened the hatch and smoke came billowing out. The scent of blood assaulted his nose, but he drooped into the tank anyway. There was no sign of life in the tank, only bloody matter covering the controls. Three more of his men jumped into the tank, closing the hatch as the last one was in. One pushed the driver's dead body out of the seat, and took control. Another took to the seat behind the driver, manning the sponsons and forward lascannon. The last man got down into the loading station. Xazir jumped into the commander's seat, and shouted, 'Hurl get this thing moving, now. Khog, get an AT shell into the chamber.' They did as he said, and the Leman traversed on its tracks, to face the other Leman Russ that was still controlled by the enemy. It's tracks were blown off, courtesy of Igmus and his men, who were nowhere in sight. Xazir looked into the tanks targeting system, and the targeting arrays adjusted to his eyesight. The cross hairs were just under the turret's armor. 'Bye, bye,' and with that, Xazir pushed the firing mechanism.

The AT shell tore through the weak armor under the turret, sending it spinning off the chassis and landing several yards away. There was a cheer from the hidden Imperials. They rose, and ran up to the ruined arbites headquarters, clearing out all Chaos filth they found. With Xazir in the tank, he voxed Igmus and told him that his men were now in his hands. And with that, Xazir switched vox channels, and found whom he was searching for.

'SIR,' YELLED CAPTAIN Tiberius Braxton's vox-operator. Braxton looked up from his kneeling position with a lasgun raised to his shoulder, searching for targets. He and Nwerin's platoons were cut off from the main force, surrounded, and outnumbered. Without rescue, they could only last for long. The factory they were in was used to produce heavy machines for the farmers out in the Paradise Plains. But, at the moment, everything was being used as a shield against the enemy bombardment.

'What is it Culf?'

'It seems that Lieutenant Xazir has commandeered a Leman Russ Battle Tank, and needs to know if we needed assistants.'

'You know the answer.'

'Right sir.'

Braxton looked around at the two beaten platoons around himself. Two of Nwerin's men were propped up against one another because they both had suffered leg wounds, and had their lasguns ready. Corpsman Pael was attending to six seriously wounded men. His uniform was soaked in the blood of those he had bandaged together, including Braxton's vox-man, who had been hit in the head by a solid round of ammo. The man Pael was treating had been shaking uncontrollably, and calling for his mother. One of Nwerin's sergeants, in his late forties, was on his back heaving heavily, as blood caked around his mouth. The man's wound had been treated to the best of Pael's ability, but that didn't stop the internal bleeding he was dieing to. Five of his own men at the rear of the factory had suffered major wounds, but still had fought on. They were all strung out, and tired.

From the front, someone shouted, 'Here they come again!'

THE NORTH SIDE of the Plaza had seen some of the bloodiest fighting in the city. With the liberated arbites' armory, platoons one-zero-zero through one-two-five pushed hard with those others fighting in that area. Day One had been the beginning to the fighting in that sector of the city. The rebel Chimeras were no match for the missile launchers taken from the arbites. The burning wrecks of the APCs black smoke could be seen from all over the city. The Tainted Blood Horde cultists in the area were another story. They had dug in and were making it difficult for the Imperial forces to pry them out. On day Five, the Imperial forces brought up what armor they could spare from the main push in the west. This robbed the enemy of their morale. With no armor support themselves, they had broken in the face of Imperial armor, and paid dearly for it. Extraction teams were still clearing out what remained of the enemy into the next week.

THE EAST SIDE was the scene of less bloody fighting. The combined effort of twenty Imperial platoons was too much for the Tainted Blood to handle. They were the weak side of the enemy. Fighting in this sector lasted only until Day Two, which after the Imperials moved onto the west side.

THE WEST SIDE had taken the longest to clean out in the entire battle. Captain Braxton and Lieutenant Nwerin both held out against all odds and were relieved, with only fifteen men remaining between them, out of fifty. Xazir's Leman Russ and several lighter tanks from the PDF were sent in to break the deadlock preventing the Imperials from reaching the stranded platoons. They finally broke through on Day Six, and with infantry support tore a two-mile gap in the Blood Horde lines. With their own lines separated, they routed. Thus, allowing evacuation of the beleaguered men on Day Seven. All in all, they cleared out the city of enemies by Day Twenty.

GENERAL KARV LIMPED up the flight of limestone stairs to the governor's palace, with an honor guard of twenty. The air was still muggy with the smell of ozone, oil, and the stench of death. The wound to his leg hurt worse than it did went he had received it. Damn barbed rounds those damn heretics used, had caught him in his left leg. The two guards at the top clipped their heels together and saluted. Karv returned the gesture lazily. He just wanted to sit down for a while. They opened the golden doors, and the men entered the Great Hall of Governor Gohjus. Two guards were posted at every door, with lasguns held upright against their shoulders, saluting as the group passed. The Hall was long and well decorated. Glow-globes shined down the length of it, casting yellow light onto the floors and walls. The roof was a picture of the Immortal Emperor sitting upon the Golden Throne. At the end of the hall, six troopers guarded the tall doors. They nodded at the approaching group and opened the doors. Inside, Governor Gohjus sat on his throne. A table had been brought up and he was eating his dinner on it. The curtains behind the governor were a grayish color to imitate the regiment color. The room smelled of flesh; bloody flesh in fact. There was a shadow behind the governor. Then it was gone. What the heck was that? I must be imagining things. All the fighting and no sleeping has finally gotten to me. He continued walking towards the governor, and stopped just below him and bowed.

'Governor Gohjus, we have cleared out the remaining enemy warriors.'

'You did; did you,' came the reply. Gohjus put down the meat he had been eating.

'Yes we did,' Karv didn't have time for this.

'Well then, who do we have here with you general?'

'Twenty of my top officers sir.'

'Excellent.' The doors closed behind the men, with such force that they all turned. 'Now, why don't we get down to business then shall we?' Guhjus rose, knocking over the small table, spilling the food and drink to the floor.

'What business?' Karv's voice came out in a rasp. Braxton was already reaching for his bolt pistol, as were several other officers.

'The business where I get to kill you. The sniper that shot at you wasn't any mere Tainted Blood trooper. It was I. And if it hadn't have been for that Captain Braxton fellow, we might have succeeded here.' At that moment, Governor Guhjus wasn't the man Karv had known since childhood. Guhjus started to convulse, and screamed. Two figures came out from behind the curtains. They were huge monsters, bigger than any dog any of the men had seen. They darted past the thing that had been Guhjus. Braxton took a shot with his bolt pistol and hit one of the things in the chest. It stumbled, and then continued forward towards the officers. Karv dove out of the way as one of the things lunged for him. The men of the group scattered and brought their weapons up, blasting away at the first beast. It howled in rage as its right flank was blown into bits of meat and bloody tissue. It collapsed to the marbled floor. The other was on top of Karv, and had bit the man's right arm. Braxton rammed into it, for if he were to chance a shot, he might have hit the general. It wrestled in his grip. The claws ripped into his uniform and drew blood. Braxton reeled back in pain, clutching his chest. He pulled out his power sword and pointed it at the beast, standing in a duel stance. 'Kill the governor,' he shouted, and in a combined effort the other nineteen men started to pound away into the frothing form of the governor.

'My Lord Emperor, protect thy servant with your arm, and give me the strength I need to send this demon-beast back to the warp.' The beast snarled at the words and reared up on its hind legs. Then it landed again, and charged at Braxton. Its claws swung from both sides, and Braxton deflected one as the other ripped into his right side, causing severe damage to his already wounded hip. He yelled in pain, staggering back. The beast seemed to smile at his pain. It came at him again, with its mouth wide open, ready to taste blood this time. 'Exactly what I thought you would do.' He threw a grenade down the beast's throat, and dove out of the thing's way and covered his head. The beast landed, and was about to turn when it exploded from the inside, splattering its innards all over.

As the mist from the blood and the smoke from the weapons cleared, Guhjus was suspended in mid-air, a bloody mess. A wing sprouted from his back, followed by another. His clothing started to rip apart, showing muscles that were bulging, and pouring out pus from the bullet wounds he had suffered. He landed onto the marble floor and cracked the tiles inwards. Already the other men had drawn out their swords. The demon strode towards the men, with its claws ready to strike. Colonel Dorl was the first to charge, and then followed by the whole group. Karv lay still on the floor, bleeding profusely from the wound in his arm. The beast raised one arm and smashed Dorl aside, sending the man into the wall next to the door. Everyone in the room heard bones break. A captain whose name Braxton will never know was grabbed by the reverse swing and had his head bitten off. The thing dropped the man and skewed the next officer through the gut. Commissar Litus brought down his power sword onto the beast's left arm, severing it at the elbow. The amount of ichor that came out of the wound was more than enough to fill five gallons. Lieutenant Nwerin launched himself at the monstrosity, making several deep cuts before he too was slapped away like a fly. He skidded across the floor and laid still. Lieutenant Igmus drove his own sword into the heart of the demon. It howled in rage, and brought down its right claw onto Igmus' head, cracking it open with a sickening sound. The man dropped to the ground as blood flowed from the wound.The commissar was still hacking away when the beast kicked him away. Braxton was upon the beast swinging his power sword in a berserk frenzy. The other men followed up and combined to form a swinging wall of swords, chopping out bits and pieces of the demon. With one final stroke, the beast sent Braxton flying through the air and into the double doors, sending out splinters. With the way open, Lieutenant Xazir drove his blade through the beast's head. It dropped like a lead weight, and didn't move. Everyone in the room sighed out loud.

THE HOSPITAL ROOM was full of the wounded. Many of who were now recovering from the fighting. Captain Braxton with a pair of crutches went past Igmus' cot. The man was alive, but would be laid up for some time. Commissar Litus was sitting up on his cot and looking well for a man who had several ribs broken. Colonel Dorl had suffered severe internal bleeding, but was spared thanks to the chief medic, Bord. General Karv was alive, but in intensive care. All the others were fine and on the roads to recovery.

Braxton left the room, and made his way to a soft couch where he sat down and reviewed a data-slate. Casualty reports were in, and he wanted to get the scope of it. Letters would need to be written.

HENOR THE BEHEADER looked at the star charts with some satisfaction. Savous and Forrix were his in the Muggous star system. Though, Savous was still holding out, it was only a matter of time. It also seemed that the Imperial forces on Yessaria had held out against the force there. His puppet, the governor had proved to be worthless after all. The fourth world of that system was a dead planet and worth nothing to his plans. No matter, my hosts of men have already penetrated the Rhomlus sector deeper than even he had anticipated. The next worlds to fall will be the ones of the Dolious star system. 'Keep me updated on that Imperial Navy fleet that it approaching from the edges of the Gorgous sector.'

'Yes Lord Henor,' they replied in unison.

Henor the Beheader turned, and stopped. Those Yessarians were going to be bottled up on that planet of theirs for quite some time, and if he destroyed their way off that planet... He mustn't let those Imperial ships get to them.

'Fleet Commander Vibes. I want your ships to move out at once and intercept the incoming Imperials.'

'Yes my lord,' replied Commander Vibes with a bow. He turned and left the room with his two bodyguards.

'Excellent. Now for the invasion of the Dolious star system.' The remaining officers and Henor himself got busy with the details.


	5. The Fury of Gods

**Chapter 5: The Fury of Gods**

THE WARP CONVULSED around the Imperial fleet traveling through it. The blast shutters were closed on all fourteen ships of the relief force sent to the beleaguered Muggous star system. Their mission was simple; clear the way for the Imperial convey that was a week behind them. They were twenty minutes away from the entry point on the fringes of the Muggous system, and Lord Admiral Ek Gok was going to prepare for contact right from the get-go. He didn't make Lord Admiral for being stupid.

His Retribution Class Battleship _Guardian_ had served him for the past fifty years, and her crew was the best of the best. It was the flagship of the fleet because of its distinguished service. He scanned the bridge of the ship, noting with satisfaction, that the crew were all at their stations, and getting ready for the return to real-space. The servitors above him were all busy laying in coordinates and getting firing solutions online. The gun crews were probably getting whipped into place.

'Master of Communications.'

'Yes sir?'

'Signal the fleet. Tell them to prepare for real-space in T-minus ten minutes. I want this done by the books gentlemen.'

'Affirmative.'

'Sir,' Gok turned to the helmsman below him in the pit of controls. 'I got a signal from the _Emperor's Light_. Captain Fothz wishes to speak to you.'

'Put it up here.' The holographic image of Captain Ulk Fothz appeared, illuminated in a red glow in front of Gok's command chair on his pulpit.

'Lord Admiral Gok,' said the image. 'I am requesting that my ship follow you out of the warp instead of to your portside.'

'Why is that captain?'

'Because, I will be in your ship's backwash, and go undetected for the first several minutes of re-entry. So if there is trouble I can be of support and give us an advantage. Stealth as those Imperial Guard fellows say.'

His words rang of merit. It would give them a ship that would not be engaged, and therefore let it attack when it wanted to or had to. And it would be hidden from scanners for a time allowing it to find targets and lock on.

'Permission granted Captain Fothz.'

'Thank you Lord Admiral.' With those words, the image disappeared.

The fleet started to get into combat positions. The four Cobra Class Destroyers were the front line, followed by the Dauntless Class Light Cruiser _Victory_. The four Sword Class Frigates were the third line. The fourth line consisted of the Mars Class Battlecruiser _Conqueror_. The flight decks in the sides of her were probably teaming with aircraft personal. The fifth line was the _Guardian_, flanked on either side by the _Faithful_ on the portside and the _Vigilant_ on the starboard side. They both were ships that Gok had served with before. Gok's old friend, Captain Mauller Amus, commanded the _Faithful_. They had gone to the fleet academy together, and had served alongside each other for the best parts of their careers. Captain Zel Hugo commanded the Dictator Class Cruiser _Vigilant_. They had met running a convoy from the Sarus sector to the Valus sector. Since that time, they had remained close friends.

'Five minutes to re-entry.'

Lord Admiral Ek Gok rose from his seat on the platform. 'Open a channel to all ships.'

'Aye sir!'

'My comrades, friends, and brothers. We are about to exit the warp, and I want everybody to expect contacts. I know I've already signaled this to you, but I can't emphasize more than I am, that this could get messy very quickly. Too many times have I heard of fleets being ambushed as soon as they left the warp. They are out of formation and sloppy. This allows the enemy to pick targets, just like shooting fish in a bucket. Not this fleet though. Every ship will display discipline. I want you all to know that the Muggous sector is counting on us to break the hold that Chaos has on it. Reports indicate that a massive Chaos fleet is coming to greet us, so…I feel it is our duty get there before they do, but to prepare for the welcoming committee. The Emperor protects. That is all gentlemen.'

The warp opened in front of the fleet, like an infant's mouth, wanting food.

'WAIT FOR THEM to come out. They will be disorganized and ill prepared. Only move forward when I give the signal,' spat Fleet Commander Vibes Hect. He would not botch up this ambush because of some gung-ho captain. Think of the prize he reminded himself as the tear in space appeared. Immortality for him that is what Henor had promised. He chuckled to himself as he thought of eternal life in the service of the Ruinous Powers.

The first ships started to emerge. Oh how the stupid Imperial scum loved to put their biggest ships first. 'Move up,' he shouted to his fleet, 'engage them. Kill them.'

With that, the Chaos fleet of twelve ships surged forward. Torpedo bays were being loaded, gunnery crews were being whipped, and the commanders could taste the kill.

'Sir! They're Cobras!' One of his officers was yelling.

'Damn them to hell!' Vibes Hect would enjoy this easy fight to the fullest.

'Sir! A Dauntless and four Sword Class ships are coming out.'

'Is that the best they sent? This will be easier than we expected. Open fire with the torpedo wave.'

Torpedoes from the Chaos ships _No Mercy_, _Blood Frenzy_, _Fallen Angel_, _Fallen Warrior_, and _Fallen Grace_ all sped off into space, chasing the Imperial front line. As they closed, four more Imperial ships came out of the hole. Then the portal closed.

'No! No! What is going on? Reload those torpedoes, now!' Hect was starting to sweat as the first torpedo wave started to reach the Cobras. He was left out in the open, blinded by his own stupidity.

THE COBRA LINE'S defense turrets started to open fire onto the incoming warheads, although several veered off course. Captain Deux Coaler of the _Intrepid_ was standing on the bridge with his arms behind himself. 'Open fire on those blasted things.' The defense lasers started to blast at the torpedoes. Laser fire was tracing everything in their sights. He saw two of the torpedoes explode as fire stitched into them.

One got through the _Excalibur_'s firing line and sped through the shields, impacting just below the bridge. Her captain, Shawn Leith cringed as the torpedo struck his ship. It lurched backwards, spilling out crew and debris. The bridge was plunged into darkness, and there was a twisting metal sound. Warning klaxons started to wail. 'Report,' Leith cried starting to rise from the deck. There was no real reply. Only moans answered from the dark. 'Report I said.' Emergency lighting came online. He saw what his bridge had been turned into. Blood ran down the length of the right hand walls. He looked up and saw his lieutenant speared through the chest by the Imperial Eagle's beak. The servitors were all short-circuited. His bridge crew lay sprawled out all over the control panels, most dead, burnt by the sparks of the controls. He saw his Gunnery Chief laying chest down, with his neck twisted round, in an awkward way. 'Holy Emperor of Terra.' He leapt down the flight of stairs to the firing controls. It read two torpedoes loaded and ready. He rushed to the navigating controls, pushing the dead ensign from the seat. He sat down and his mind raced. Fires raged on decks seven through two. He closed them off; making sure oxygen wouldn't be able to fuel them. His fingers flew over the panel. He switched reserve power to the rear thrusters, to right his dying ship. He wanted to get off one shot before he died. Faster, I have to move faster.

Two torpedoes struck the Cobra Destroyer to the left of the _Excalibur_ almost simultaneously. One tore through the bridge of the _Fearless_, causing the death of her senior staff. Captain Jarfus Zenklar died on his two feet, facing the enemy. The other bore through the hull plating into the belly, before it fully detonated. The _Fearless_ died in a bright flash of white-hot plasma.

The other two Cobras avoided or destroyed the remaining torpedoes. Together, the _Excelsior_ and the _Intrepid_ both launched their first wave of torpedoes, targeting the enemy's flagship, the Desolator Class Battleship _No Mercy_. Its defense turrets easily cut these down.

The Imperial fleet was now moving up at combat speed. The Chaos fleet was also closing the gap. The Imperial ships _Guardian_ and _Vigilant_ both had seen the destruction of the _Fearless_ and the bleeding_ Excalibur_. They both must have been thinking alike as they both launched off torpedoes at the Infidel Class Raiders in the center of the Chaos line. The three ships tried desperately to maneuver out of the way, and lucky for them, their small bulks made it out of the way. The not so lucky Hades Class Heavy Cruiser _Night Stalker_ being slower and less nimble tried to turn to her port, but only opened up the flank and underbelly instead. The defense turrets didn't even open fire at the missiles streaking towards them. Out of the fifteen torpedoes fired, ten struck the _Night Stalker_. The other five either malfunctioned or were cut down by other ships. Nonetheless, the Heavy Cruiser took a pounding. The hits blew out chunks of ship. It continued its turn to port, but didn't stop, and kept turning. Only then did the Imperials realize it was dead in space. The blazing fires could be seen, even from the distance they were at.

THE FOUR SWORD Class Frigates along with the Dauntless Light Cruiser started to break ranks as they neared the Chaos fleet. They powered their way to the left flank of the enemy line. The Styx Heavy Cruiser and the three Iconoclast Destroyers barred their way. The Styx, _Doom Bringer_, launched both bays of bomber and fighter craft it had. They swarmed out of the sides, towards the Imperials moving up. The Dauntless, _Victory_, sped past its Sword escorts to meet the challenge. Its prow lances spat lasers as the swarm closed. There were many explosions, but still they came on. They made a passing run on the starboard side, but were beaten off as the weapons batteries came to life, destroying more of the swarm. The Swords then too joined in the extermination of the insects, blasting with their own weapon batteries.

Using their comrades as a shield, the three Iconoclasts, _Khorne's Own_, _Lost Cause_, and _Swiftdeath_ moved around the _Victory_ and opened fire through their bombers and fighters, destroying several to reach the flank of the _Victory_. The shields of the _Victory_ held firm under the punishment, flickering a bluish light. The bombers and fighters, being torn apart from their own as well as the enemy gave up their fight against the Imperial ships and headed for home. This left the Imperial ships and the Chaos ships on equal terms. The Sword ships _Imperialist_ and _Angel of Terra_ both sped around the _Lost Cause_, both to a side, and opened fire. Under the immense firepower of both ships, the shields of the _Lost Cause_ collapsed. With its shields wasted, the two Imperial ships picked it apart, blasting great chucks out of it. After a minute of continuous fire, the life-readings from the ship dropped to zero. The two victorious ships then veered off to their flanks, splitting up. After the battle was over, the _Lost Cause_ drifted for centuries until it found its way to the warp, where it was never seen again.

The _Doom Bringer_ wasn't done, not by a long shot. It fired its prow and dorsal lances at the stern of the _Justice_ Sword Destroyer. It was like peeling a banana. With its body structure being ripped to pieces, the _Justice_ fired it after burners and smashed into the stern of the _Doom Bringer_. The _Justice_ was obliterated, but it tore a hole into the _Doom Bringer's_ front plating. This would later cause the death of the massive Heavy Cruiser.

The Iconoclast _Khorne's Own_ went broadside on the _Victory_ and opened fire on its flank, causing the shields to flicker again. Just as if the _Victory_ now noticed this little pestilence, it fired its Starboard guns into the Iconoclast, disabling its shields with the first salvo. The Sword _Radiant_ followed up on this opportunity and fired all weapons into the defenseless Destroyer. The lasers tore into the _Khorne's Own_. The plasma drive was struck and overloaded. The resulting explosion robbed the _Radiant_ of her shields.

_Doom Bringer_ once again moved in for a kill. With the _Victory_ breaking off, to attack the last Iconoclast, _Doom Bringer_ was on top of the _Radiant_. Its prow battery took out the _Radiant_ engine room. The crew in the area screamed for help, but the rest of the ship had problems of their own. Captain Suth Uriel ordered for the transmission to be cut off. He couldn't bear them anymore. The _Radiant_ returned fire at the massive Chaos ship, knocking down the bow shields of the _Doom Bringer_. This didn't make any difference in the outcome of the death of the Sword Class Destroyer. With its thrusters damaged and the crew in disarray, it was easy pickings. The _Radiant_ exploded in a massive fireball.

The _Victory_ with the _Imperialist_ sped off towards the retreating _Swiftdeath_. There was no way they could catch up to it, so both ship fired off a volley of laser fire. Some hit the retreating ship, causing the shields to fold. After those shots, _Swiftdeath_ was out of range. With their prey gone, both ships turned to port just in time to see the _Radiant_ die. With anger in their hearts and a prayer on their lips, both Imperial vessels powered forward. _Doom Bringer_ stood its ground, only to be struck from behind by another assailant. The _Angel of Terra_ fired another hail of lasers at the Chaos Heavy Cruiser. The _Victory_ and _Imperialist_ also started to add their fire to that of _Angel of Terra_. From the torrential mass of fire, the _Doom Bringer_ shields buckled, flared, and faded forever.

This didn't stop the Chaos ship from fighting back though. The gun crews were whipped even harder. Curses were shouted and blood was spilt. The guns recoiled again. The shots struck the _Victory_ just under its bow, once and for all, causing the shields to overload. Damage control teams rushed from one section to another as small fires erupted. The _Doom Bringer_ guns recoiled once again. This took out the prow weapons of the _Victory_. Without the front guns, the Dauntless Light Cruiser veered to starboard. The two remaining Destroyers continued to pour on the fire. The _Doom Bringer_ was clearly burning in several areas. One hail of fire struck the launch bays on the port side of the Chaos ship, causing a fireball to float through space. Secondary explosions sounded in the launch bay. The _Victory_ added its own weapons to the others, but at a different area. Making sure that the _Justice_'s sacrifice hadn't been in vain, the tear in the Chaos ship's bow was hammered by the fire of the _Victory_. A whole section of the bow was blasted into atoms. But as the _Doom Bringer_ was finally starting to break apart, it fire one last desperate round of lasers at the _Victory_. These hit the target with a great force as the range had closed considerably. The _Victory_ broke in half, spilling out debris and men. The cold vacuum of space eventually sucked all of the oxygen from inside the two halves, causing the crew to suffocate.

With its final task complete, _Doom Bringer_ finally succumbed to its inevitable death. It too broke into parts, but there were many sections going in different directions. Victoriously, but at a heavy price, the _Imperialist_ and _Angel of Terra_ swung around the flank of the Chaos battle line.

THE CHAOS FLAGSHIP _No Mercy_ and the Imperial flagship _Guardian_ were trading blow for blow, having gone broadside on one another. Both ship's escorts were busy dueling each other, and let the two big ships fight it out. Whole sections of both ships were ablaze and debris was everywhere, though not all of the things around the ships were parts of them. Bodies, frozen in mid-screams were adrift with the pieces of hull. Both captains fought frantically, using each and every measure of wit they had. Gun crews continued to slave, spilling as much sweat, as there was blood on the decks. The _Emperor's Light_ was out of action due to the torpedo hits it had suffered from the _No Mercy_. Lord Admiral Ek Gok saw in the rear-viewing bay the burning form of the _Emperor's Light_. It had sped up when _No Mercy_ fired off another wave of torpedoes, and it had blocked them from the flagship. The ship was drifting after that, dead.

'Shields are down to fifty percent sir!' There was panic in the young man's voice. A panic that knew they were doomed.

'They will hold son.' Ek Gok was sitting in his command chair, with a bandage around his head and a sling for his right arm. There was blood seeping through the head bandage. He looked around, seeing comrades he had served with for years lying dead at his feet, and the brave _Emperor's Light_,ablaze. He cursed the foulness of Chaos. 'Where are my torpedoes?'

'Sir, the torpedo room has been hit, and crews are trying to stem the fires.' A junior officer below him stood to attention, not even blinking when another round of lasers hit the shields.

'How are our weapon batteries holding up?'

'Not too good sir, as some of the starboard side weapons are destroyed.'

'I see.'

'I've got a report sir! It seems that the torpedo room is gone sir. Well, not gone really just everyone in it. They are dead sir.'

'No! This is unacceptable. You hear me!'

'Yes sir, I do, its just we can't-'

Gok was already down on the deck, and scrambling for the elevator to the lower decks. 'Then, I will load and fire them myself,' he said as the doors closed in front of him.

Fleet Commander Vibes Hect cursed loudly. His collarbone was dislocated and there was a tear in his left thigh where a piece of shrapnel had caught him. 'Fire,' he shouted, and another wave of lasers were sent off into the enemy's flagship. 'Torpedoes, fire!'

'That's a negative sir, it seems there is a-,' the officer speaking fell to the deck, headless. Hect blew the smoking bolt pistol's barrel. 'I want results, not excuses. Get his body out of my sight.' Two guards came forward and drug the dead man's body over to the rest of the bridge's dead. The ship shook again under the impacts outside. A control panel shorted out, causing the man at the seat to fly through the air. He hit the wall with a thud and slumped down. Another took his place. 'It seems you all are incapable of loading those things. I'll do it myself then. Swing to port.' The ship started to lurch. Another bright flash marked a hit, followed by flashing klaxons. Hect was striding to the elevator, where two guards flanked it. They then opened it, and all three got inside.

Ek Gok cursed again as he rolled over the corpse on the lever control. The whole room was filled with dead men. At the other end, a bulkhead had come down on the hole in the hull. No wonder the fires were put out so quickly Gok thought as he worked one of the cranes to load the torpedoes into the firing tubes. The ship rocked violently. Klaxons wailed as another section of the hull was breached. Three tubes loaded. He switched on the vox to contact the bridge. 'Swing to starboard, now!' He clung to the seat, as the strain on the ship was almost too much for him. One shot, that was all he needed to blow out the blasted torpedo bay of the enemy ship. He flicked on the pic-viewer to see what was happening outside. Laser fire streaked back and forth between both fleets. The Chaos flagship was also turning. I guess they are thinking the same thing I am, he thought as he fingered the launch button.

'Work faster you dogs.' Vibes Hect was standing behind what was left of the slaves, shooting those that fell from exhaustion. Already, seven casings littered the floor. Three were loaded up, when he decided that would suffice. 'Fire!' The ship shuddered as the tubes were launched. His dark laughter echoed throughout the bay. This wasn't to last long as the torpedoes from the _Guardian_ were precise and struck the torpedo bay of _No Mercy_. Fleet Commander Vibes Hect was disintegrated along with four hundred other Chaos servants. The whole under belly of the ship was torn away, exposing many decks to the vacuum of space. More than two thousand heretics were sucked out, without knowing what was happening.

'Oh shi-,' started Ek Gok as the three enemy torpedoes sped straight for him. He made for the elevator as quick as he could. The torpedoes all bore through the bow of the ship, causing the front of the ship to splinter and brake. Secondary explosions caused some more of the ship to fall apart. The Chaos ship was still turning to her portside, appearing not to have been slowed by the hits it had suffered.

_No Mercy_ finished the turn, and now with the starboard side ready, opened fire on the bleeding _Guardian_. With the bow a tattered mess, the _Guardian_ suffered worse. One of the torpedo storage areas was struck, and created a massive gap where just seconds before, several hundred men were.

The bridge was starting to collapse, and there was no sign of Lord Admiral Ek Gok. Junior Officer Hoch Rolf took over as acting commander. 'Helmsman, status report.'

'The ship is going to start to brake apart if we don't disengage from the fight.'

'That will not do. We either win or die here.'

'Aye sir.'

'Can you steer us to starboard any?'

'Yes sir, but not very far.'

'Do it. And patch me through to the Destroyer _Excalibur_.'

CAPTAIN SHAWN LEITH pressed the activation rune for the firing mechanism to the torpedoes. Power failed onboard the _Excalibur_ as they sped off into the darkness. Drenched in complete and total darkness, Leith was going to miss his one claim to fame. With the _Guardian_ out of its firing line, the _Excalibur_ had a clear line of sight to the _No Mercy_. Both of the torpedoes struck home as they blew out chucks of hull, just like when asteroids strike the surface of a planet. _No Mercy_ did a full belly roll, and from the inside, exploded. All Imperials who saw the death of the Chaos flagship rejoiced. The Chaos fleet really didn't seem to care that their leader was dead.

THE MARS CLASS Battlecruiser _Conqueror_ along with the Dominator Class Cruiser _Faithful_ and theDictator Class Cruiser _Vigilant_, were fighting off the Chaos Grand Cruiser _Blood Frenzy_, the Cruiser _Hell Raiser_, and the Raider _Two-Faced_ on the right flank.

Now acting commander of the Chaos fleet, Captain Blood of the _Blood Frenzy_, grimaced revealing his white sharp teeth that cut into his gums every time he did smile. Blood pooled out from his lips and he licked them to savor the position he was at. Finally a chance to prove that he should have been at the head the whole time. He would become a destroyer of worlds, a conqueror of death, and bringer of despair. All would fear him. Nothing like that weakling, Vibes Hect, who was now dead.

He came back to reality with a shudder as his ship fired another round from its batteries at the broken form of the _Vigilant_. It had been worthy prey, living up to its name. It had been "vigilant," trying to take on the three Chaos ships before it. They had pounded the hell of it, and from Blood's point of view it was going to explode or brake apart anytime now. But now, its support was on the way, finally moving into position.

'Power up the engines, we are going for the kill.' Again, Captain Blood let a smile crease his mouth.

Both the _Blood Frenzy_ and _Hell Raiser_ pushed forward through the broken pieces of the _Vigilant_, firing at what remained of her. The Idolator Raider, _Two-Faced_ moved round the broken ship to flank the Imperials from the right as the Infidel Raiders, _Fallen Angel_, _Fallen Warrior_, and _Fallen Grace _moved round the left.

The Imperial ship _Faithful_ didn't have a Nova Cannon for show, and fired it at the incoming Infidels. The blast blinded everything in the area. When the explosions had ended, some five minutes later, only the_ Fallen Warrior_ had come out, but was torn along its port. The _Fallen Angel_ and _Fallen Grace_ had been vaporized from existence. The Imperial ship had wasted no time in turning to show its broadside weapons. _Fallen Warrior_ didn't even know what happened when the lasers tore straight through the bow, to the stern, bisecting it down the middle. The two parts drifted and exploded. With this accomplished, _Faithful_ powered through the mess it had created.

_Blood Frenzy_ fired its remaining salvo of torpedoes at the _Conqueror_, only for them to be destroyed by the ship's turret defenses. It continued to go for the Imperial ship. At the same time, the Carnage Class Cruiser _Hell Raiser_ had opened fire with all available fire. This met the Imperial ship with the force of a god. The _Conqueror_'s shields flared blue, and flickered, but still held. The Nova Cannon on the _Conqueror_ spat out a projectile that contained the equivalent to a dozen plasma reactors. It detonated prematurely, blocking the _Hell Raiser_ from view. The Chaos ship moved through the fires like a monster from the depths of the Eye of Terror. They just parted, as to allow passage for the Chaos Cruiser.

The _Conqueror_ shook again as the _Blood Frenzy_ fired its weapons upon her. That was all the shields could handle, and with a crisp crack, they failed. Just as this happened, a Chaos Raider appeared out of no-where. It fired a volley of lasers at the defenseless ship, causing little damage.

Captain Lith Ruff ordered all flight bays to launch bombers and fighters at once, and within the minute, hundreds of spacecraft were moving towards the _Hell Raiser_, in hopes of damaging it somehow. As the swarm was closing, four huge torpedoes passed them, to their portside. These hit the Chaos Cruiser head on. The wreckage of the decimated bow was milling around as the _Hell Raiser_ shrugged off the hits. It kept coming, despite the four torpedoes.

The four torpedoes had come from the two remaining active Cobra Destroyers, _Intrepid_ and the _Excelsior_. They both charged forward, pushing their ships to their limits. Weapon batteries from the _Hell Raiser_ started to spit at the accelerating destroyers. Moving at such great speeds and being small targets, they were hard to hit, but the _Intrepid_ was clipped enough for it to reduce speed.

_Two-Faced_ came out of nowhere to pummel the _Intrepid_, smashing her bridge and setting fire to decks two through eight. Debris belched from the dying ship. Swinging around the kill, _Two-Faced_ moved to get behind the _Excelsior_, only to find it gone, and in its place, a whole squadron of bombers, from the _Conqueror_. They swooped in like vultures onto the reeling Chaos ship. Their bombs and missiles struck the top of the ship, making it glow a telltale orange. The Chaos ship tried desperately to evade, but the nimble bombers came in for another run, this time striking the engines and bridge. The gunners of the ship tried to target and fire, but the bombers were already gone, only to return from the bottom of the ship. More explosives were sent into the Chaos Raider. With a great sound of tearing metal, the ship broke into two sections. The deck levels were distinctly noticeable, and as the bombardiers put it, 'I believe it looks a whole lot better that way.'

The remaining spacecraft continued onto the _Hell Raiser_. The Cruiser fought hard against the tiny targets, and with as much firepower as it poured out, took a good number down. The _Excelsior_ was right behind the swarm, using their signatures to blot out its own. Though the destroyer was bigger, hundreds of craft can hid a destroyer quite easily at such great distances. As the bombers and fighters closed in, they part just in time for the _Excelsior_ to fire another salvo of torpedoes. These were right on the money, hitting the _Hell Raiser_ head on again. More pieces of the ship broke off and flew into the darkness of space. Just as fast as they parted, the swarm closed again.

Robbed of most of its bow weapons, the Chaos Cruiser turned to starboard and fired a massive volley of lasers and tracers. More Imperials bombers and fighters were struck and exploded. Still, they came, with the faith of the Emperor and with payloads to deliver.

The _Conqueror_ still was moving up to support the load of ships it had spewed out, only to be cut off by the _Blood Frenzy_. As the Chaos ship slid in between them, it fired the massive gun mounts on the starboard side. They tore through space, and quickly did the same to the Imperial Battlecruiser.

Captain Ruff flinched at the impacts. His ship was dying and he knew it. This was how his father had died, against a ship called the _Blood Frenzy_. That name had stuck for his whole life, and now, here he was, fighting the foe that took his father from him, only to be killed by it. No! His fate will not become mine, at least not without me taking it down with me.

'Helmsman. All ahead full. Let us ram the son of a bitch.'

'Aye sir,' was all the man at the controls could mutter.

'All personal,' he stated into his vox-link, 'you have served the Emperor well. As a matter of fact, you served me well too. We most likely go to our doom.' The ship rattled again, causing several people to fall to the deck. 'But, let us give a good account of our deaths. Sing with me, one last time the old battle hymn.' As one, several thousand voices started to sing, 'Cross the stars and fight for glory…'

They brought the ship up to its max speed; despite all the fires and damage it had suffered. The _Blood Frenzy_ tried to power out of the charging Imperial ship's way, but wasn't fast enough. The _Conqueror_ speared headlong into the starboard side of the _Blood Frenzy_, splintering into tiny fragments as they met, also piercing the hull of the enemy ship. Both ships became intertwined, looking as though some child had taken two toys and smashed them together.

Without really meaning to, the last thing the _Blood Frenzy_ did was fire its weapons into an already locked enemy. Most of the batteries were clogged up and detonated within the ship, doing more damage than the initial impact had. Like two lovers locked together, both ships exploded as one, sending fragments, shards, and debris in all directions.

The Chaos ship _Hell Raiser _was ablaze with dozens of fires when the bombers and recently destroyed _Excelsior_ were done with her. With no base to return to, fuel running low, and ammunition spent, the fighters and bombers of the _Conqueror_ plowed into the bridge, portside, starboard side, and underbelly of the _Hell Raiser_. These actions were more than enough to cause its death. Though it didn't explode, it just burned itself out.

The _Faithful_ didn't realize the ship was dead and pounded it heavily with the weapons at its disposal. The sheer scale of firepower atomized the already dead Chaos Cruiser.

WITH THE VICTORY at the warp entry to the Muggous system, the Imperials had cleared the way for their convoy of relief to the worlds there. Seven infantry regiments, two of which were fully mechanized were aboard several transports. Two complete armor divisions, and a detachment of artillery guns were aboard others. Several transports carried the air support of the regiments.

The space above Yessaria was never a prettier sight than that of shuttles taking the regiment up for deployment on the world of Savous. The war there had taken a turn for the worse and troops were in need. With the Yessarians, three more regiments were going to in with them, including an armored division and the artillery detachment. The three regiments were the "Night Hawks" of the nocturnal world of Fangor, the warriors from a world called Copla, and the veterans of several campaigns, the "Avengers" from the noble world of Gorga. The armored division was a newly raised one from the forge world of Gallx nicknamed "Hell on Tracks" due to the warmth of the planet.

Though many historians believe the war for Savous wasn't as important as that for Forrix, the events, which took place on Savous, were to be remembered throughout its history there after.


End file.
